First hotel in decades a revival of sorts
Project in downtown Hollywood expected to attract overnight guests
HOLLYWOOD — Downtown Hollywood is on the cusp of a hotel renaissance as it is poised to welcome its first newly built hotel in several decades — the CIRC Hotel.
The 111-room boutique hotel, which is scheduled to open in early 2018, is nearing completion on the northeastern side of the Young Circle arts and entertainment district as part of a mixed-use real estate project dubbed Hollywood Circle.
“For sure it’s been decades since the last new hotel was built in downtown Hollywood,” said Charles “Chip” Abele Jr., managing partner of developer Hollywood Circle LLC.
When completed the $200 million project will offer 389 luxury apartments, retail shops and a supermarket.
Hurricane Irma spared the project of any major damage, Abele said.
The last hotel constructed in downtown Hollywood was the Ramada on Harrison Street, said Jorge Camejo, executive director, Hollywood Community
The last hotel constructed in downtown Hollywood was the Ramada on Harrison Street, built in 1969.
Redevelopment Agency. Before that, it was the 1920s-era Great Southern Hotel.
The 95-room Ramada Hollywood Downtown was built in 1969, Broward County property records show.
The CIRC hotel is expected to attract more overnight visitors to the area and in turn, boost business for nearby dining and entertainment establishments, city and project officials said.
“We’re very excited about this significant event in the history of our downtown, which will complement the area’s slate of excellent restaurants,” Camejo said.
Coral Gables-based Trust Hospitality will manage the 11-story CIRC at 1780 Polk St. Trust’s portfolio of South Florida properties include the Langford Hotel in downtown Miami and El Paseo Hotel in Miami Beach, according to its website.
CIRC’s General Manager Kara Lundgren said the hotel and its groundfloor Italian restaurant, Olivia, are expected to open to guests in early February.
One of the restaurant’s “coolest” features will be a Mozzarella bar, she said.
The boutique hotel will offer eight suites in its accommodations mix and will have a coffee bar, fitness center, rooftop pool and lounge and nearly 3,000 square feet of meeting space.
CIRC will cater to “a little bit of everyone,” including small groups, business travelers and millennials, she said.
While opening room rates are yet to be announced, they will be “tantalizing,” Lundgren said.
A job fair is planned in early November to begin filling many of the 80 to 100 jobs the hotel is expected to create, she said.
Hollywood Circle is part of a revitalization taking place in the city’s downtown corridor. Other new residential and mixed-use projects proposed or under development include JED Equities’ multistory condo tower with 134 residences and commercial space at 1817 Taylor St., two blocks north of Young Circle. Parc Place, a multi-tower residential project with 18,000 square feet of commercial space is proposed for the southern side of Young Circle.
Abele also has another project in the works on the western edge of Young Circle called Block 40, which has yet to break ground.
The 19-story Block 40 project will feature 166 apartments on the upper floors and shops, offices and a hotel on its ground and lower levels. This $103 million project plans to incorporate the façade and an interior section of the shuttered historic Great Southern Hotel built in 1924. The hotel component is expected to be a 103-room Hilton Garden Inn.
“Between the two projects we have a third of a billion dollars in significant investment in the downtown district,” Abele said. “We feel the area is in dire need for more hotel rooms and that demand is there.”
Others are eyeing downtown Hollywood for possible hotel development.
In June, an affiliate of North Carolina-based CN Hotels acquired a parcel of just under an acre at 2638 Polk Street, with plans to build a 119-room hotel on it. CN Hotels however, has not yet announced groundbreaking or projected opening dates.
To boost its downtown appeal, city officials in recent years have taken steps to upgrade lighting, signage and landscaping along the popular arts and entertainment district to encourage locals and tourists to visit, Camejo said.