MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Negotiations have begun for the development of an 800-room headquarter hotel on a site adjacent to the Miami Beach Convention Center, city officials said.
The city said Portman Holdings is to privately fund the $405 million hotel and pay the city 4 percent of the hotel's gross revenues under a proposed 99-year lease.
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City officials estimate the revenues will equate to $4.7 million annually in a normal operating year, not including millions of dollars in additional resort tax and other payments the hotel will generate.
"We are excited to be delivering what our convention center clients need in order to book events in Miami Beach, without any public incentives or public financing," Mayor Philip Levine said. "The addition of this hotel is an integral component of our plan to revitalize our center and reduce overall traffic by attracting convention events where attendees walk to the convention center and to local restaurants and shops, rather than drive by car."
The plan calls for the development of the hotel on a parking lot behind the Fillmore Theater, adjacent to the new Miami Beach Convention Center. City officials said the Fillmore Theater will remain in place and operational during and after the hotel's construction.
The hotel will provide 701 rooms, 99 suites and 95,000 square feet of meeting space. City officials said the hotel is also planned to offer an amenity deck with pools and landscaping.
In addition, the developer is required to pay for the cost of a sky bridge connecting the hotel to the convention center, the city said.
The city received two proposals for the hotel in April. One of the proposals was eliminated early in the process because it requested a public subsidy to develop the hotel, officials said.
"The City Commission gave us clear direction that they would not entertain any proposal that included a public incentive. In addition, the developer had to agree to not have gambling on the site or own a gambling facility in Miami-Dade County," City Manager Jimmy Morales said. "We are fortunate to have received a proposal by a firm as capable as Portman that could develop under these constraints.
If the lease agreement is approved by Miami Beach voters in November, the hotel is planned to open prior to Art Basel in late fall 2018, the city said.