Blue Road scores $18M loan to renovate South Beach hotels

UPDATED June 12, 12:45 p.m.: Blue Road scored an $18 million loan to renovate two hotels in South Beach, as the company pursues its strategy of buying and rehabbing older hotels.

The Bay Harbor Islands-based firm secured the loan from City National Bank of Florida for Hotel 18 at 1775 James Avenue and the Redbury South Beach at 1776 Collins Avenue, property records show.

Blue Road bought Hotel 18 in 2016 for $11.68 million after the previous owner was hit with a foreclosure lawsuit, records show. The 15,557-square-foot hotel, built in 1948, has 46 rooms.

The Redbury South Beach, built in 1951, has 69 rooms, records show. Blue Road paid $27.2 million for the 43,651-square-foot hotel in 2017.

Blue Road plans to use the proceeds of the loan to gut Hotel 18 and expand the Redbury on the site, doubling the number of rooms, said Blue Road principal Marcelo Tenenbaum. Construction began two weeks ago and is expected to be completed in 16 months.

Blue Road, led by Jorge Savloff and Tenenbaum, has focused on buying and renovating South Beach hotels. The company’s projects include the Berkeley Hotel at 1610 Collins Avenue, Riviere Hotel at 1424 Collins Avenue and the Greenview Hotel at 1671 Washington Avenue.

Last March, the company paid $14.27 million for Park Terrace, a 32-unit apartment building at 355 19th Street in Miami Beach.

In 2017, the development firm bought the Stiles Hotel at 1120 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach from the Carlyle Group.