Billionaire Barry Sternlicht is buying The Standard hotel in Miami Beach from the scions of Zara magnate Amancio Ortega, The Real Deal has learned.
The sale of the 100-key hotel is expected to close soon for roughly $60 million to $70 million, according to sources. The property at 40 Island Avenue will continue to be a Standard hotel. The waterfront hotel has performed well throughout the pandemic, with rates starting at nearly $600 a night.
Sternlicht, the hotelier and real estate investor who created the 1 Hotels brand and previously led Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, lives in Miami Beach. The Starwood Capital Group and Starwood Property Trust chairman and CEO is also set to open the companies’ new headquarters at 2340 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, soon.
Sources said that Sternlicht is buying the hotel through his family office, JAWS Estates Capital. Forbes pegs his net worth at $4.3 billion.
Sternlicht and Standard International did not respond to requests for comment.
An entity tied to the Ortega family, Ferrado Lido LLC, paid $34 million for the 100-key hotel in 2008. Sandra Ortega Mera owns the majority of the parent company and Marcos Ortega Mera owns a minority stake, according to documents filed with the city of Miami Beach.
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Both are the children of Amancio Ortega, who is worth more than $73 billion, according to Forbes. Ortega co-founded Zara parent Inditex with his late ex-wife and owns 60 percent of the Spanish company. He also owns real estate around the world, including in New York and South Florida. In 2015, he paid $370 million for the Apple and Nike-anchored retail block on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.
The Standard hotel, called The Standard Spa, Miami Beach, spans 2.3 acres on Belle Isle. The property was developed in 1953 as the Monterrey Motel and Yacht Club, designed by architect Norman Giller, according to the Miami Design Preservation League. It reopened as the Lido Spa in 1960.
Standard Hotels founder André Balazs, who stepped down from his company role as chair in 2017, opened the property as the Standard Spa in 2005 following a renovation.
The hotel offers a wellness membership that includes access to its amenities, including the pool and hot tub, and discounts at the spa, hotel rooms and waterfront restaurant. Miami Beach approved plans for a major renovation of the hotel in 2017 that included a partial demolition of the east wing and the addition of a new building.
The brand, Standard International, recently announced it is getting into condo development with the sales launch of The Standard Residences in Midtown Miami, to be developed by Carlos Rosso and Midtown Development.
The hotel chain has properties in New York, London, Los Angeles, the Maldives and Thailand. It closed its West Hollywood location in January, and the property hit the market in October.