Abu Dhabi fund could buy Beach’s Edition hotel

An Abu Dhabi government fund is close to buying three Marriott Edition hotels, a lifestyle brand being developed with hotelier Ian Schrager, including the Miami Beach Edition, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal.

The two other Edition hotels are in New York and London, the Journal said.

The deal could take place as rising occupancy and room rates trigger an increase in hotel sales. U.S. hotel transaction volume was $12 billion this year through July, up 45 percent from the same period last year, the Journal reported, citing Jones Lang LaSalle’s hotels division.

A deal could also spur interest and publicity for the Edition lifestyle brand ahead of the London hotel’s opening scheduled for Sept. 12, the Miami Beach hotel’s opening next year and the conversion of the more than 100-year-old former MetLife tower in New York in 2015. [WSJ] — Emily Schmall