Gencom Refis Ritz Carton on Miami’s Key Biscayne With $300M From Blackstone
Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group joins as a partner, too, as resort seeks to expand
By Julia Echikson May 19, 2025 1:45 pm
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Gencom secured $300 million to refinance the Ritz Carton resort on Miami’s Key Biscayne and landed a new, high-profile partner, Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune International Group, to expand the 420-room property.
The debt facility from Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies will refinance the oceanfront resort’s existing debt — a $210 million loan issued in 2023 — and fund a $100 million renovation currently underway.
The 275,000-square-foot property at 455 Grand Bay Drive closed last week and is scheduled to reopen in December. The upgrades to the 17-acre property will be mostly cosmetic, such as adding soft beige tones and lush greenery to “evoke the sand and seas.”
In tandem, Gencom has struck a deal to combine The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne with the nearby private beach club at 425 Grand Bay Drive, called Grand Bay Club. The all-shares transaction will create a 22-acre masterplan property featuring over 1,200 linear feet of beach frontage.
“The merger of these two trophy assets is a win-win for everyone involved because the sum of the pieces is clearly more than the individual components,” Defortuna, who resides on Key Biscayne, said in a statement. “Being able to possess a property with over 1,200 feet of ocean front is extremely unique in the South Florida market.”
Gencon will become a majority owner of the combined properties, while the Fortune-led entity will own stakes in both as well, according to a spokesperson for the joint venture. A deed recorded earlier this month showed Gencon buying the 14,463-square-foot beach club from the Fortune-led entity for $20 million.
The beach club property will undergo a renovation as well. The work, which will include the addition of a member’s club, is expected to begin in 2026 and be completed that same year.
Fortune International isn’t done with that beachfront strip on Key Biscayne, a barrier island located right off Miami. Last month, the Miami-based developer, alongside Terra, purchased a motel for $205 million with plans to redevelop it into a luxury condo.
Julia Echikson can be reached at jechikson@commercialobserver.com.
