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Week of August 27, 2004 |
| Developer converting Miami hotels to condos By Samantha JosephA Chicago firm plans to spend more than $120 million this year to buy Miami-Dade County hotels to convert into condominiums. The Falor Cos. has spent $80 million on four local hotels since May and expects to spend another $45 million on at least four more in Miami Beach and Miami's Brickell area, President and CEO Robert Falor said this week. The Tides, Falor's most recent purchase, will yield 45 condos by November, Mr. Falor said. It is Falor's third South Beach site, joining Breakwater and Edison, neighbors at 10th Street and Ocean Drive. Falor will combine them to create 145 condos and spend $9 million on renovations. The company's first Miami-Dade property, Mayfair House Hotel, purchased in May for $14.7 million, is undergoing a $10 million facelift that includes a new ballroom, spa and restaurant. Renovation of the four hotels will cost Falor about $24 million. Falor is not alone in its interest in local hotels. Fortune International is in talks to convert at least two hotels, which it plans to market primarily to foreign executives with ties to Florida. "People in Europe and Latin America love the concept of the condo-hotel," said Fortune President and CEO Edgardo Defortuna. "When they come here, they could travel light. It's like a turnkey kind of residence. Bring your suitcase and your toothbrush, and you're set." For the conveniences of room service, housekeeping and onsite dining, hotel-condos carry higher price tags - about $50 more per square foot than other residences, said Mr. Defortuna. But it's a price that buyers are willing to pay, developers say. Said Mr. Falor: "What is obvious to us is that there is a lot of pent-up demand."
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