Barry Sternlicht Taps Bjarke Ingels to Add Condos at Miami Beach’s Standard Hotel

Billionaire Barry Sternlicht wants to redevelop the historic Standard Hotel in Miami Beach by adding a condo component designed by world-famous architect Bjarke Ingels, according to filings to the City of Miami Beach.

The boutique waterfront property on Belle Isles contains three main structures, which were built between 1953 and 1960. The three-story south wing functions as the hotel’s front entrance and would remain intact. 

The $61 million plan mainly targets the east wing, a collection of hotel bungalows on the ground floor. That section would be transformed into a five-story building, housing a parking garage with 66 spots on the ground floor, 50 hotel rooms on the second and third floors, and six luxury condo units on the top two floors.

The west wing, another three-story structure, would be reconfigured with larger hotel rooms. The change would bring the room count in that building down by 12 to 55, but the overall number of rooms in the hotel would remain about the same. 

Ingels’s BIG Architects drew up the plans, and Miami-based architect Kobi Karp would oversee the redevelopment project. 

The Miami Beach Design Review Board will hear the proposal Oct. 1. 

Sternlicht, who operates real estate and hotel company Starwood Capital Group based a mile and half away in Miami Beach, purchased the 2.5-acre property for $62 million in 2022 from heirs to the Zara fashion fortune. 

Beside Sternlicht’s family office, JAWS Estates Capital, others who own a stake in the property include Ingels, former SoftBank CEO Marcelo Claure, billionaire Peter Thiel, investor Martin Franklin, and Antonio de la Rúa, son of former Argentine president Fernando de la Rúa, according to a filing made to the City of Miami Beach.

A representative for Sternlicht confirmed the plans. 

Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.