The U.S. arm of United Kingdom-based private equity firm Henley paid $15.4 million for two hotels in Miami and Miami Beach, property records show.
Husa LH JZ LLC, a company controlled by Garrett Solomon, paid $8.6 million for the Jefferson Hotel at 528 and 534 Southwest Ninth Avenue and $6.8 million for the Jazz on South Beach, a hostel at 321 Collins Avenue. The Henley affiliate financed the deals with an $11.6 million mortgage from MOIF Credit I LLC.
Solomon, who founded the development and management firm Corbelis, heads Henley’s U.S. team. In addition to offices in the U.S. and the U.K., the private equity real estate firm also has offices in the Netherlands.
One Sotheby’s International Realty’s Alex Miranda and Ramon Rodriguez, along with One Commercial’s Leslie Cooper, brokered the deals.
Santiago Vanegas’ Habitat Group sold the Miami property, a 33-key, three-story limited service hotel on Ninth Avenue. Habitat is developing Smart Brickell, a mixed-use condo project planned for the west Brickell neighborhood. The Habitat affiliate paid $1 million for the Jefferson in 2014, and invested $3.8 million into a full renovation of the property, according to its website.
Henley paid about $261,000 per key for the Jefferson.
Jazz on South Beach LLC, which is controlled by Moshe Ziv and John C. Reilly of Pine Plains, New York, sold the South Beach Hostel to Henley. The 26-unit, nearly 8,800-square-foot property hit the market last year for $7.15 million. It sold for about $262,000 per unit.
The hostel has 196 beds in the 26 units, with zoning for up to 218 beds, and each unit has an in-suite bathroom. It also features laundry and kitchen facilities. The owners recently invested about $500,000 in renovations and completed the property’s 40-year re-certification. Records show the LLC paid $3.75 million, or about $144,000 per unit, for the hostel in 2007.