Westin Diplomat trades in $535.5M transaction

Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa

In one of the most expensive real estate deals in South Florida history, Hollywood’s Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa changed hands for $460 million as part of a $535.5 million transaction.

A company tied to Annapolis, Md.-based private equity firm Thayer Lodging Group acquired the 1,000-room resort at 3555 South Ocean Drive in a transaction recorded on Thursday, according to Broward County records. Other companies linked to Thayer paid $20 million for a nearby golf course and $55.5 million for numerous vacant properties at the Westin Diplomat site.

Wells Fargo Bank gave Thayer a $260 million loan for the acquisition.

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The seller is Diplomat Properties L.P. The company is tied to United Association, a large union of plumbers, pipefitters, welders and related professionals.

United acquired the Westin Diplomat site in 1997 and hired Coral Gables-based architecture firm Nichols Brosch Sandoval & Associates to design a new hotel, convention center and retail complex, according to the Westin’s website. The original hotel was razed in 1998. The Nichols Brosch-designed resort opened two years later. — Eric Kalis