Virgin Hotels eyes Miami

Virgin Hotels, the new division of Virgin Group, is targeting Miami as part of its plan to invest $500 million in the acquisition and transformation of 150- to 400-room urban hotel properties in the U.S., and ultimately, internationally. “Our capital is very flexible,” said Anthony Marino, executive director for Virgin. “It could be equity, it could be debt. And we can bring in other partners. There are a number of institutional-type real estate investors who want us to bring them deals.” [SFBJ]