Baywood buys site in Blue Lagoon to build 225-room hotel

Baywood Hotels paid $10.5 million for part of a lot in the Waterford at Blue Lagoon office park where it has approval to build a 225-room hotel.

Baywood bought the 1.4-acre property at 1101 Northwest 57 Avenue in Miami for $166 per square foot, records show. The seller is Blue Lagoon Development LLC, which is tied to Miguel Mouriz of New American Funding.

The site is vacant except for a run-down building that was formerly a nine-story hotel, records show.

Blue Lagoon Development bought the entire 4.3-acre site for $13.2 million in 2006, according to records.

The office park sits right across from the Florida Turnpike and Miami International Airport. It is home to Burger King’s corporate offices.

In December, Miami commissioners approved a crucial zoning change that allowed developers to build residential units in the office park. The change enabled the Weiss Group to develop six buildings in Blue Lagoon with a total 888 residential units and 294 hotel rooms.

Columbia, Maryland-based Baywood Hotels is an active hotel developer in South Florida.

In March, Baywood paid $13.1 million for a Red Roof Inn near Miami International Airport.

In October, a company affiliated with Baywood filed plans to build a Residence Inn by Marriott near Miami International Mall in Doral, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

Baywood Hotels owns and operates more than $1 billion in assets, according to its website.