UPDATED, Dec. 29, 11:20 a.m.: Hotel developers Sadhana and Sanjaykumar Patel won approval to build an eight-story, 172-room, dual-branded hotel on the site of a vacant bank in Fort Lauderdale.
Sadhana “Sandy” Patel is president of Luckey’s Management, a Fort Lauderdale-based hotel development and management company, and Sanjaykumar “Jay” Patel is the company’s CEO.
Through their affiliated company, 1100 Hotels, LLC, they won approval for a proposal to plat about 1.9 acres at 1100 State Road 84 and restrict its use to a 172-room hotel.
The never-before-platted development site on State Road 84 has an underlying commercial land use designation that allows for development of a hotel.
A rendering of the 172-room hotel development in Fort Lauderdale (George White Architect)
The construction phase of the project is expected to start in late 2022. According to Luckey Management’s website, about half of the rooms will have full kitchens and will be marketed under the Townplace Inn extended-stay brand. The rest of the rooms will be marketed under the Fairfield Inn brand. Amenities will include a restaurant, fitness center, library, and ground-floor swimming pool.
The development site is east of I-95 and a short drive from Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. A vacant bank office with five teller windows and 14,666 square feet of space would be demolished.
The Fort Lauderdale City Commission unanimously approved the plat last week without comment, and no one spoke publicly for or against the proposal at the meeting.
The city’s development review committee reviewed the plat application on July 27, and the Fort Lauderdale Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of the application on Sept. 21.
The estimated total cost of the project is $30 million, according to Luckey Management’s website.
The Patels applied to plat the development site about five months after acquiring the property in April for $3.3 million from William & Sons LLC, according to property records. The new plat is called Luckey’s Plat.
Luckey’s Management has a portfolio of nine hotels in Broward County that operate under such flags as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, and Springhill Suites, according to the company’s website.
As domestic travel picked up this year, in some cases surpassing 2019 levels, average daily room rates increased, boosting confidence in South Florida’s hotel market. The result was a bump in hotel investment sales, led by the $270 million sale of the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort.
This article has been updated to reflect the correct estimated project cost.