Brookfield pays $171M for Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina

The Blackstone Group just sold the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina to Brookfield Asset Management for $170.6 million, marking one of the biggest South Florida hotel sales in recent years.

Blackstone sold the 589-room hotel at 1881 Southeast 17th Street to Brookfield subsidiary Thayer Lodging Group for about $290,000 per key, property records show. The 9-acre property fronts the Intracoastal Waterway and includes a 33-slip marina.

The hotel ranks as the third-largest in Broward County, after the Diplomat Resort & Spa Hollywood, which has 998 rooms, and the Marriott Harbor Beach, with 650 rooms.

Brookfield, a global asset manager with about $285 billion in assets, also owns the Diplomat property.

The property hit the market about a year ago. CBRE’s Christian Charre, Paul Weimer, Natalie Castillo and Jennifer Jin represented Blackstone.

Records show FL Grande LLC, led by Blackstone’s global head of real estate Jonathan Gray, purchased the property from Host Marriott in 2006, likely as part of a larger deal. In 2006, Blackstone acquired the hotel REIT MeriStar Hospitality Corp., which owned 57 hotels under the Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Westin, Doubletree and Radisson brands in the U.S., for $2.6 billion.

The Hilton Fort Lauderdale was built in 1980 and 1981, records show. CBRE’s Charre previously said the hotel has been renovated several times, most significantly in 2008.

At least two other hotels are being marketed for sale in Fort Lauderdale Beach and the surrounding area, including the W Fort Lauderdale, which is asking $795,000 per key or about $275 million.