Denver firm buys Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort for $190M

UPDATED 4:10 p.m., Dec. 14: KSL Capital Partners purchased the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort for $190 million.

Property records show Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort LP, a joint venture between developer Lon Tabatchnick and Starwood Capital Group, sold the Jimmy Buffett-themed resort at 1111 North Ocean Drive to KSL affiliate MVHF LLC. The deed traded hands for $97.93 million and the ground lease for $28.59 million. The buyer financed the deal with a $123.5 million mortgage from Bank of America.

A spokesperson for the hotel said the property sold for $190 million, a figure that may include furniture, fixtures and equipment.

Tabatchnick completed the $175 million development on 5 city-owned acres at Johnson Street and A1A in 2015. The 349-room, 17-story resort includes eight restaurants and bars, an 11,000-square-foot spa, oceanside pools, a wave ride and 30,000 square feet of convention facilities, according to a fact sheet about the property. Hotel investment and development has picked up in Hollywood since the Margaritaville resort opened.

It sold for about $544,000 per room.

West of Margaritaville, near the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tabatchnik is working on a mixed-use project with PrivCap Companies. Together, they’re developing 441 Rock as a 180-unit rental property together with a Wawa convenience store, a Wendy’s restaurant and a self-storage facility.

Denver-based KSL invests in hotels and resorts, clubs, fitness, family entertainment, skiing and resort real estate. The private equity firm sold the Royal Palm Hotel in 2015 to Chesapeake Lodging Trust for $278 million. KSL doesn’t appear to own other hotels in South Florida, according to its website and data from Real Capital Analytics.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed how many stories tall the hotel is.