Heightened demand? French budget lodgings firm, MHG buy South Florida hotels

A European budget lodgings chain and a Midwest hospitality company each scooped up a South Florida hotel. 

The deals come at a dubious time for South Florida’s hospitality market, as hotel investment sales have been muted and some hoteliers have faced financial woes. 

In the bigger deal, French firm B&B Hotels bought the six-story, 110-key hotel at 5125 Northwest 36th Street in Miami Springs, near Miami International Airport, for $16.2 million. Records show the seller is an entity tied to Boca Raton-based Onyx Hospitality, led by CEO Sameet Patel. 

Ahmed Kabani and Luis Garino of Kabani Hotel Group represented the seller in the off-market sale. The brokers confirmed the sale price but declined to disclose the identity of the buyer. 

Sources confirmed the buyer is Paris-based B&B Hotels. Led by CEO Fabrice

Collet, the firm lists hotels across Europe and also in Brazil, but none in the U.S., its website shows. 

B&B paid about $147,300 per key for the Miami Springs hotel. Completed in 1986, the hotel is on a 0.7-acre lot, records show. It last traded in 2019 for $10.3 million. 

Its name is now changed to B&B Hotels Miami Airport from Onyx Hotel Miami Airport. 

In the smaller deal, Indianapolis-based MHG Hotels bought the four-story, 94-key hotel at 1455 West Yamato Road in Boca Raton for $15.5 million, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The price equates to $164,900 per key,

Completed in 1997, the building is on a 1.7-acre lot. It last traded in 2015 for $12.9 million. The hotel is branded as Hampton Inn Boca Raton. 

MHG Hotels, which also has an office in Boca Raton, is led by CEO MHG Hotels, the company’s website shows. 

Fairfax, Virginia-based Hospitality Investors Trust sold the Boca Raton hotel, according to records and Vizzda. The firm, a real estate investment trust that filed for bankruptcy in 2021, handed over control of its hotel portfolio to Brookfield that year as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization. 

South Florida’s hotel market is experiencing a wave of new proposals for boutique and high-end projects, though sales have been slow. BH Group and Prime Group propose a 15-story, 246-room hotel at 804 South Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach. In June, Keyah Real Estate Group paid $20 million for the site at 1509 and 1515 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach, with plans for a seven story, 238-key hotel. 

In one of the few recent hotel sales, Ronny Finvarb sold the four-story, 128-key Courtyard Palm Beach Jupiter at 4800 Main Street in Jupiter last month for $20.9 million. 

Some hotel investors in South Florida are feeling the squeeze from higher operating expenses. L+R Hotels’ $22.4 million loan on the Fort Lauderdale Marriott North at 6650 North Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale was put into special servicing in June due to a looming December maturity, according to Morningstar Credit. Although the landlord has been making timely debt payments, the loan is being monitored for its upcoming maturity due to reduced cash flow.