Balazs puts Raleigh Hotel on block

New York hotelier Andre Balazs plans to sell his most well known South Beach property, saying a deal for the Raleigh Hotel is all but done save for a final price tag. The hotel magnate said he plans to focus on the Standard chain, which now has branches in New York and Los Angeles. Luigi Mercurio, who specializes in hotel sales for EWM, a local real estate brokerage, said it’s a good time to sell a hotel. Last year, Balazs sold the Standard in Miami Beach to a Spanish company for $34 million after paying $9 million for the site of the old Lido Spa on the Venetian Causeway, and he now leases back the waterfront property and runs the hotel.