Billionaire-backed Faena Group pays $100M for Versailles

The developers of the Faena District in Miami Beach paid a recorded $100 million for the historic Versailles hotel and condominium adjacent to the site in a sale The Real Deal was first to report last week.

The seller, Joseph Chetrit and his partners, had purchased the dilapidated Art Deco hotel in pieces, spending a total of $50 million before flipping to Argentine developer Alan Faena and his partner, the billionaire investor Len Blavatnik.

Chetrit received city approval late last year to renovate the Art Deco landmark and build a 10-story, 30-unit condo tower.

The Versailles will be incorporated into the Faena District, a five-block complex at Collins Ave. and 32nd Street that includes a Roman & Williams’ renovation of another Art Deco hotel, the Saxony; condo residences by Sir Norman Foster to be called Faena House; and an arts center with a component for artists-in-residence by the Pritzker prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas.

“The purchase of the Versailles represents the continued growth of Faena District Miami Beach and our plans to create an enclave of high design, culture, and hospitality, surrounded by nature in one of the most exciting cities in the U.S.,” Faena told TRD in an email.

Blavatnik and Faena previously paired up to build Puerto Madero, converting out of use granaries and warehouses on the Río de la Plata into Buenos Aires’ priciest enclave. [exMiami] — Emily Schmall