Radisson Red emerges near airport
MIA hotel to be in walking distance of ground transportation hub
MIAMI — The airport hotel, often regarded as a temporary haven for airline flight crews, business travelers passing through, and tourists bumped from overbooked flights, is getting an upgrade as multinational operators spend money on spiffy new brands and interior designs to woo longerterm visitors.
Now, Radisson is among the latest to travel the route, planting one of its relatively new Red brand hotels on the eastern fringe of Miami International Airport, within walking distance of Miami-Dade County’s sprawling ground transportation hub.
Radisson Red is a small international chain with five hotels aimed at millennials. Its locations thus far are in Minneapolis; Brussels, Belgium; Campinas, Brazil; and Glasgow, Scotland. The $34.5 million Miami location is its first in Florida, and is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2019.
Earlier this month, the developer topped off the six-
story building, which will feature 155 guest rooms, three meeting rooms, an outdoor pool, and a rooftop deck bar.
“Hotels used to be about a comfortable bed and a nice pillow,” said Rodrigo A. Azpurua, president and CEO of Riviera Point Invest + Develop in Miramar. “Now it’s about lifestyle — stepping into the hotel and experiencing what the city is about.”
Just an eighth of a mile away, guests will be able to walk to the massive Miami Intermodal Center and catch a bus, train or rental car to see Miami and nearby destinations.
First announced in 2016, the Radisson Red is at 3450 NW 25th St. The opening was originally planned for this year, but Azpurua said it was delayed by a lengthy government approval process for the building’s pilings and foundation. Construction started in December.
To make the hotel more environmentally friendly, Riviera Point hired Edenburg Hospitality of Miramar to create furnishings out of recycled wood and organic materials.
Azpurua said there is no shortage of demand for new hotel rooms in the airport area. Right now, there are 700 hotel rooms under construction in the neighborhood, he said. Before launching the project, the company’s research found the local market could absorb an additional 1,700 rooms.
The company received a $16.5 million construction loan in July from Centennial Bank. It also raised close to $6.5 million in private equity and $11.5 million via the EB-5 U.S. visa program. The program allows foreign citizens to live and work in the United States in exchange for investing at least $500,000 in Americanbased projects that would create at least 10 jobs within two years.
The investors may not be disappointed. According to statistics compiled by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, there are record numbers of travelers passing through MIA these days, many of whom might want to hang around a little longer than overnight.