Developer of dual-branded Fort Lauderdale hotel closes $56M construction loan

The Wurzak Hotel Group and DoveHill closed $56.1 million in construction financing for its dual-branded Starwood hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

Bank of the Ozarks provided the loan, developer Jake Wurzak told The Real Deal.

Rendering of the hotel

The developers are building a 323-key hotel with a rooftop bar and flagship restaurant. The 24-story property, at 299 North Federal Highway, breaks down to a 209-room Tribute hotel, called The Dalmar, and the 114-room Element hotel. It will also feature 12,000 square feet of retail space and a 206-space parking deck. Wurzak said he’s in talks with a boutique fitness concept, juice/coffee concepts, and a restaurant that will open up to the corner of U.S. 1 and Southeast Third Street for the retail space.

“We think the downtown revitalization is going to continue and get much bigger,” he told TRD.

Tutor Perini Building Corporation already broke ground on the 18-month project with an official ceremony planning for later this month, Wurzak said.

The property will include a shared street-level entrance, a sky lobby on the seventh floor with a bar, a gym, and an indoor and outdoor pool deck on the 24th floor pool deck. DesignAgency is the interior designer, and Sol-Arch is the architect.

“There’s no other rooftop bar in Fort Lauderdale,” Wurzak said.

A Wurzak, DoveHill partnership acquired the property for $12 million in June, according to Broward County property records. It was the site of the Fairchild Funeral Home & Cremation Center, which was demolished and cleared late last year. It’s in the Flagler Village area, a neighborhood currently under transformation with new retail, residential and office projects.

Meridian Capital Group’s Ronnie Levine and Aggelos Sklavenitis arranged the financing, according to the Commercial Observer, which first reported the loan.