Trio of Boutique Miami Beach Hotels Sell for Combined $100M – Commercial Observer

Ahead of Florida’s peak winter tourist season, a trio of historic, boutique Miami Beach hotels traded hands during the past week for a combined $100 million, property records show.

In the most recent sale that closed last week, Boca Raton-based investor Opterra Capital paid $28 million for a Hilton Garden Inn-branded hotel in the Mid Beach neighborhood, located along a strip of resorts at 2940 Collins Avenue.

The art deco-style property, originally constructed in 1935, holds 96 rooms. The seller, Baywood Hotels, bought the 40,300-square-foot building for $12.5 million in 2013.

Across 30th Street at 3010 Collins Avenue, a joint venture between Assouline Capital and August “Gussie” Busch dropped $33 million for the Red South Beach Hotel — exactly triple its last sale price in 2009. The seven-story hotel, erected in 1939, features 110 rooms. 

Busch is a descendant of Adolphus Busch, who co-founded beer giant Anheuser-Busch, while Assouline Capital is a Coral Springs-based real estate investment firm led by Tom Assouline.

In the largest transaction, Catalyst Capital Group, a Canadian private equity firm, bought The Balfour Hotel for $39 million. Built in 1940, the Balfour consists of two buildings along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach’s upscale South of Fifth neighborhood. 

The 81-room property underwent a $4 million renovation, reopening in 2021, according to Lodging Magazine. Two year earlier, the seller, Moto Capital Group, paid $34.7 million for the 42,206-square-foot hotel.

Miami’s hospitality industry is recovering well post COVID-19.

More than 24,000 tourists came to Miami-Dade County in 2021, about the same as pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to data from the county’s tourism board. The number of Miami hotel rooms booked this summer was more or less on par with the busy winter months.

Julia Echikson can be reached at [email protected].