Terra Buys Piece of Demolished Deauville Hotel Site in Miami Beach

In a move that could kick-start the redevelopment of a long-dormant site, Miami-based developer Terra has joined the ownership team of the former Deauville Beach Resort in Miami Beach.

Deauville Associates, led by the Meruelo family, sold a 25 percent interest in the 3.8-acre oceanfront site at 6701 Collins Avenue for $12.5 million to TMG 67 Communities, an affiliate of Terra, according to public records.

David Martin’s Terra “plans to bring an iconic development” to the site, a spokesperson said, adding that the developer wants to re-create the famed resort. A symbol of Miami Beach’s early 1960s heyday, the hotel hosted the rich and famous. In 1964, the “Ed Sullivan Show” broadcast the seminal live performance by The Beatles from the hotel’s Napoleon Ballroom.

But the landmark hotel was shut down after a fire in 2017, and the Deauville was demolished in 2022.

For a time, billionaire developer Stephen Ross hoped to redevelop the property. Ross asked to raise the property’s height limit to 375 feet, nearly twice the zoning allowance of 200 feet. Miami Beach put the question to a referendum, and in 2022 voters rejected that proposal. The billionaire reportedly spent more than $1 million to lobby for the project.

Jeff Ostrowski can be reached at jostrowski@commercialobserver.com.