1675-6 New Hotels mh94 GIANTS VIE TO BUILD GRAND HOTEL ON BEACH 03/08/1994
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1994, The Miami Herald
DATE: Tuesday, March 8, 1994 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: 1A LENGTH: 96 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Ross PEROT, Jorge MAS CANOSA; map: Proposed
hotel site in Miami Beach
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: ANTHONY FAIOLA Herald Business Writer
GIANTS VIE TO BUILD GRAND HOTEL ON BEACH
PEROT, MAS CANOSA AMONG HOPEFULS
Ross Perot wants to build it. So does Jorge Mas Canosa. Then toss in about
every major name in the tourism business from Ritz-Carlton to Hyatt Hotels.
They're all vying for the right to build the first new grand hotel on
Miami Beach in 26 years.
Late Monday, Miami Beach city officials unveiled six proposals in a
worldwide search for developers to build a convention center hotel on 5.5
acres of prime waterfront land at 16th Street and Collins Avenue. The
proposals ranged drastically -- from a 50-story Ritz Carlton Tower to 15-story
Loews Hotel.
The new hotel would be Dade's second largest after the 1,266-room
Fontainebleau Hilton.
After a decade of unsuccessful attempts to lure developers, Miami Beach
lured them with an offer of more than $60 million in incentives -- including
land and city-backed bond financing.
They had one thing in common: All came with promises of
helping return Miami Beach tourism to its glory days.
"Miami Beach is going through a great renaissance, " said Morris Lapidus,
91, the legendary architect who designed the Fontainebleau Hilton, the
interior of Lincoln Road Mall and other Miami Beach landmarks. Lapidus and his
son Allan are part of a group that includes Hyatt Hotels; Mas Canosa, the
Cuban- American leader and head of Church and Tower, a phone cable company;
and Plaza Development Group, a Miami-based real estate development firm.
"This is the heart of the Miami Beach we're talking about, " Lapidus
said. "The correct hotel here could help redefine the city."
The Hyatt/Lapidus proposal, a $127 million hotel with 800 rooms, would be
like a "modern Fontainebleau" with neon lights illuminating each level of the
hotel. The city asked for proposals for more than one hotel site -- and it
got them. Two additional bids came for two other sites in the city.
One group, backed by media mogul Eugene Jackson, proposed the $45 million
renovation of the Eden Roc Hotel into a four- star hotel similar to its early
days. In 1972, Jackson started the nationwide Black Radio Network, and is now
forming a new cable station called the World Africa Network. The bid includes
a partnership with the current owner, Lloyd Goldman.
Another group backed by four Miami black businessman proposed a 280- to
300-room hotel adjacent to the primary convention hotel, on property now
occupied by the Royal Palm and Shorecrest Hotels. The entrepreneurs include
American Express Vice President Peter J. Calin, Texaco attorney Jerry D.
Bailey, Miami investor Marvin Holloway and Eugene Ford Jr., chief executive of
Miami-based Argus Construction.
But the largest minority proposal came from Atlanta-based H.J. Russell &
Co. , one of the biggest minority-owned development companies in the nation.
The company, which built the Georgia Dome and is building the new Olympic
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Stadium in Atlanta, proposed a $130 million Marriott Hotel with 756-rooms.
This firm is also a potential bidder for building Northwestern High School
project.
Ross Perot's Hillwood Development Corp. is also proposing a Marriott
Hotel. Perot wants to build a larger hotel, with 900 rooms, for an estimated
cost of $117 million.
The proposal with the largest scope comes from Ritz- Carlton, to be built
by Pacific International Construction Inc., one of the largest developers on
Miami Beach. Pacific International has built the Excellence, The Sterling, and
is beginning construction on Sunset Harbour that will front Biscayne Bay.
The Ritz-Carlton plan includes a 50-story tower built in a modern deco
style, adjacent to a refurbished St. Moritz Hotel. The total project would
cost $119 million, and include 900 rooms.
Another proposal teams up the Belz family of Memphis, owners of
factory outlet stores across the nation, with South Beach restaurateur Tom
Billante, owner of Mezzanotte on Washington Avenue, and the Peabody hotel
chain. Together, they want to build a $131 million hotel with 800 rooms.
The Tisch and Ratner families put forward a proposal that includes Dade
builder Armando Codina as a key consultant in the development of the property.
The Tisch and Ratner families, two powerful business clans with longtime
ties to Dade real estate, joined together in a $135 million bid -- the highest
priced of all six -- for an 830-room hotel under the Loews hotel chain.
For at least five years, the city-owned land could be leased for next
to nothing. Besides that, Miami Beach officials are willing to kick in more
than $45 million worth of city- backed bond financing, and possibly a new
hotel parking garage.
The package from the city also sets aside an additional $10 million for
erecting a smaller hotel built by an African American developer, thus
satisfying one of the demands of the black tourism boycott that ended last
spring. This money is included, regardless of whether or not a minority-owned
firm wins the bid for the larger convention hotel.
Over the next two months, a citizens panel, to be created by the Miami
Beach Commission, will review the proposals and interview applicants. The
panel is expected to issue a recommendation to the commission, which will make
the final selection sometime in May.
Among the criteria that will distinguish each bid: Up front equity
investments, size and design, proposed amenities, management and financing
plans, and name recognition from major chains.
Said Miami Beach City Manager Roger Carlton: "This leaves no doubt that
Miami Beach is ripe for development of a convention hotel. We were overwhelmed
by the quality of the bids. Regardless of who is chosen, I don't think there's
any way the city can lose."
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