Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Plans for hotel and marina to come in 2017
The iconic Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six hotel and marina in Fort Lauderdale has a new owner.
On Thursday, Orlando-based real estate development group Tavistock Development Co. announced it has acquired the 384-room hotel and 127-slip marina complex.
The total purchase price was $165 million, which included a parking lot, a company spokesman said.
Property deed transfers recorded in Broward County Wednesday, show the hotel and marina sold for $163.27 million.
The hotel and marina complex will continue to be operated by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, and details about future renovation plans will be announced in 2017, Tavistock said.
CBRE Group facilitated the deal between the seller, an affiliate of Blackstone Group of New York and Tavistock, including the property acquisition and redevelopment rights.
When the 22.7-acre property at 2301 SE 17th St. was put up for sale in February, it already had received local approvals for additional mixed-use development.
“After listing the property in February of this year, we were able to attract buyers from around the globe, said Christian Charre, senior vice president, CBRE Capital Markets. “We are now very pleased to have facilitated the sale of this outstanding investment opportunity, which already comes with city-approved plans to further develop the site.”
It has entitlements for the addition of 58 residential units in two 11-story buildings with 30,000 square feet of retail and office space, Tavistock noted.
“When we first discovered that this special property was available, we knew there were incredible opportunities to leverage the collective experience of our teams and further establish this iconic hotel and marina as one of Fort Lauderdale’s defining destinations,” said James “Jim” L. Zboril, Tavistock’s president, in a statement. “We are very excited for what the future holds with this next chapter of Pier Sixty-Six.”
The Fort Lauderdale marina opened in the late 1950s as a fuel dock for Phillips 66 Petroleum Co. Phillips later developed a yacht club on the site and in 1957 opened the 100-room Pier Sixty-Six hotel. A new 17-story tower with commanding views of the Atlantic, Fort Lauderdale, Port Everglades, the Intracoastal and points west was added in 1965 to meet growing consumer demand.
The tower’s signature crown dominated the Fort Lauderdale skyline at the time and included a revolving cocktail lounge that offered visitors spectacular views as its floor slowly rotated every 66 minutes.
Years later, the rooftop area was converted into a special occasion venue called Pier Top.
The “66” theme is featured in other parts of the hotel’s design. There are 66 pointed Statue of Liberty-type spikes around the tower’s crown, which was designed by Richard F. Humble and built in 1966, according the hotel’s management.
In February, Broward property records had listed the market value of the site of the Hyatt hotel and marina at $77.5 million.
In 2004 private equity firm Blackstone acquired the site and two other South Florida hotels from H. Wayne Huizenga’s Boca Resorts Inc. as part of a $1.25 billion deal.