Hotel operator HEI Hotels & Resorts announced that 154 employees at the Conrad Miami were laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The WARN notice is dated May 25, one week before hotels are allowed to reopen in Miami-Dade County. Merritt Hospitality, an affiliate of HEI Hotels & Resorts, filed the letter this week, which states that the 154 layoffs are expected to exceed six months.
Mast Capital and Angelo Gordon & Co. paid $72 million for the 203-room luxury hotel at 1395 Brickell Avenue in 2017.
The layoffs add to thousands of others in retail, restaurants, hotels and resorts throughout the state, including at Walt Disney World Resort. A number of hotels in South Florida have been closed since mid- to late-March and will begin reopening on Monday, June 1.
Since the pandemic began, hotels that have laid off or furloughed employees include the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, the Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach, the Eden Roc Miami Beach, the Palms Hotel and Spa, Circa 39, the South Seas and the Richmond Hotel, SLS South Beach, JW Marriott Marquis Miami, the JW Marriott Miami, the Trump National Doral Miami and the South Beach Hotel Group’s properties.
Hotel owners in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties have $4.2 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities debt, based on an analysis by data provider Trepp. Hotels such as the Fontainebleau Miami Beach have entered special servicing, presenting new challenges for property owners.