Gencom Buys Majority Stake in Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne from Brookfield
The deal values the resort at over $400 million
By Julia Echikson January 12, 2024 2:17 pm
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Brookfield Asset Management sold a majority stake in the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne resort to Gencom, a Miami-based developer, Bloomberg reported.
The deal values the 302-room property at more than $400 million and boosts the ownership of Gencom, which previously held a minority stake. It’s unclear whether Gencom is now the sole owner.
Representatives for Gencom declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Brookfield did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2000, Watermark Lodging Trust completed the 275,000-square-foot resort, located at 455 Grand Bay Drive on an island just east of Miami.
In 2022, the property came under the control of Brookfield when the Canadian asset manager purchased the Chicago-based trust for $3.8 billion. Last year, Brookfield refinanced the complex with $210 million.
It’s the second major hospitality sale for Brookfield in South Florida in recent years. The asset manager, one of the world’s largest real estate investors, sold the 1,000-room Diplomat Beach Resort for $835 million last year. The transaction remains the largest hotel sale in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Gemcon, led by Karim Alibhai, is a prominent hospitality investor and developer in Miami. Last year, it secured a ground lease to redevelop the James L. Knight Center into a three-tower complex in partnership with Hyatt.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
