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Sunstone scores approval for Confidante Miami Beach revamp
Irvine, California-based firm plans $60M renovation of 339-key hotel it bought last year
Sunstone Hotel Investors can move forward with a planned $60 million revamp of the oceanfront Confidante Miami Beach.
The Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board on Tuesday unanimously approved the Irvine, California-based real estate investment firm’s proposed renovation of the Art Deco hotel. Last year, Sunstone paid $232 million for the 339-key hotel, records show.
The renovation is part of Sunstone’s repositioning of the Confidante from Hyatt’s Unbound Collection to Andaz, another Hyatt luxury hospitality brand.
“[The Confidante] has a number of historic components,” Javier Aviñó, a lawyer representing Sunstone, told board members. “We have been studying this and have been very sensitive to it.”
Completed in 1940, the Confidante was Miami Beach’s first skyscraper at 13 stories, according to documents submitted to the city. In 2007, previous owners added a residential tower and transformed the property into apartment rentals.
Five years later, Geolo Capital acquired the site and converted it back into a hotel, then known as the Thompson Miami Beach. In 2016, Hyatt bought the hotel for $229 million, and restored its original name, the Confidante.
Sunstone is proposing to reconfigure the exterior stairs and front porch of the 1940 building to create a grander entrance into the hotel, as well as partially demolish a lounge and two hospitality suites on the second floor, according to a Feb. 6 letter of intent. The second floor would be converted into a lobby with a lounge and bar. The new lobby would have an elevator and floor-to-ceiling glass walls to create wide views of the outdoor terrace, pool and beach.
A historic house completed in 1929 on the north side of the property would be moved to the southeastern side, facing the beach. The home would be used as a beach club and outdoor lounge, the letter states. Sunstone also wants to place a new pool and deck where the house is currently situated.
Sunstone plans to complete the renovation next year, according to a press release issued last year when the company bought the Confidante. Led by Chairman Douglas Pasquale and CEO Bryan Gigla, Sunstone is a publicly traded company that owns 15 high-end hotels across the U.S. In Florida, Sunstone owns the 781-key Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, and the 175-key Oceans Edge Resort & Marina in Key West, according to the firm’s website.