Sagamore Hotel’s new owners take out $45M mortgage

The Sagamore Hotel’s new owners — Fort Lauderdale-based InSite Group and New York-based EL Group — took out a $45 million mortgage on the oceanfront South Beach property.

Records show EBJ/InSite, the joint venture entity that purchased the hotel for $63 million in April, received the funding from Bank Hapoalim. Ben Shmul, CEO of InSite signed the loan documents.

InSite and EL bought the Sagamore at 1671 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach from Sagamore Partners days before $41 million in debt and interest payments were due. The Sagamore’s late owner Martin Taplin died on March 8.

At the time of the purchase, the buyers said they would make physical improvements to the property.

The 93-room hotel, originally built in 1948, encompasses 92,000 square feet on a 43,125-square-foot site, according to Miami-Dade property records. The five-story property last sold for $315,000 to Sagamore Partners in 1997.

At $63 million, InSite and EL paid $677,419 per room for the hotel, which has been known for its art-filled lobby.

The price was among the highest paid for South Beach hotels. In September Rockpoint Group bought the non-waterfront Aloft South Beach for $105 million or $446,809. Hyatt Hotels bought the Thompson Miami Beach, an oceanfront hotel, in April for $229.4 million or $603,684 per room. And last year, Chesapeake Lodging Trust bought the James Royal Palm, less than two blocks away from the Sagamore, for $278 million or $707,000 per room.

InSite Group, a private development and investment firm backed by Israeli investors, also owns such hotels as the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk, the Coco Key Resort in Orlando, and the former Clarion Suites in New Orleans.

EL Group, a family-owned investment group with offices in New York, Miami and Tel Aviv, owns commercial office, luxury residential, retail properties, assisted living facilities and medical office centers. The firm is also developing residential properties in Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn.