Swire Sells EAST Miami Hotel for $174M
By Julia Echikson October 29, 2021 2:54 pm
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Another Brickell hotel has traded hands, for nearly half a million dollars per unit.
Trinity Real Estate Investments and Certares Real Estate Management purchased Miami’s EAST hotel for $174 million, the seller, Swire Properties, announced.
The luxurious hotel, located at 788 Brickell Plaza, sits atop Brickell City Centre, a swanky outdoor shopping mall, which boasts an Apple store as well as a Chanel Beauty boutique. Swire Properties developed both properties and will continue to operate the hotel.
With its 352 rooms, the sale per unit equates to $494,300, just shy of half a million dollars. The 536,070-square-foot establishment includes 20,000 square feet of event space and outdoor venues as well as a 20,000-square-foot outdoor pool and deck.
The Brickell hotel marked the Hong Kong-based seller’s first venture in the U.S., following the opening of the only two other EAST-branded hotels in Hong Kong and Beijing.
The buyers secured a $120.1 million loan from Värde Partners, according to CBRE, which the firm’s Mark Owens, John Avanzino and Estelle Wang brokered the deal.
“This investment is consistent with Certares’ strategy of acquiring well-located, high-quality hotels in growing markets that display both strong leisure and corporate demand,” Nolan Hecht, the firm’s head of real estate, said in prepared remarks.
Brickell is a sought-after financial and residential neighborhood, housing the offices of corporate giants while also boasting some of the city’s highest residential rents.
CBRE’s Paul Weimer, Christian Charre and Jennifer Jin represented Swire in the transaction.
South Florida’s hotel market is picking up steam as tourists hit the road post-lockdowns. Average room rates are now higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to data from STR. A night at the EAST hotel will cost more than $300 in late November.
There has been a flurry of hotel deals in recent weeks. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is purchasing a Hollywood, Fla., resort for $270 million, in the most expensive hotel sale of the year in the region. Earlier this month, B Ocean Resort, which housed the iconic Yankee Clipper hotel, went off the market for $117 million. Earlier this week the Conrad Miami Hotel in Brickell sold for an undisclosed amount.
Honolulu-based Trinity, a private real estate investment firm, owns hotels in its home state as well as in Arizona and Mexico.
Headquartered in New York, Certares specializes in the hospitality industry, owning hotels across the world as well as travel management companies.
Update: The article was updated to include CBRE’s role and the acquisition loan.
