MCR Upsizes Hilton Miami Airport in Plan to Add High-Rises

Can we use renderings from the original story?

MCR is planning to triple the guestroom count at its Hilton Miami Airport Blue Lagoon with a rezoning application to add 1,000 hotel rooms across two new buildings.

The New York-based hotel owner-operator wants to change zoning for the 20.6-acre site at 5101 Blue Lagoon Drive from industrial use to hotel and apartments, the South Florida Business Journal reported.

MCR proposed two 14-story buildings each with 500 rooms ranging from 320 to 860 square feet. The buildings would have pool decks on the 6th floor.

MCR would also add four parking garages to the property. The new hotels would replace surface parking for the existing Hilton, which is 14 stories with 500 keys. The developer plans to build a seven-story garage with 400 spaces and a five-story valet garage for the original hotel. The other garages would serve the new hotels and have six stories with 297 spaces each.

The project designer is Coral Gables-based Behar Font & Partners. MCR wants to up the permitted height from 154 feet to 164 feet and reduce the distance between the hotels and parking garages. The application will require Miami-Dade County Commission approval at a later hearing.

The original hotel was developed in 1983. MCR bought the property for $118.3 million in 2023, which broke down to $233,000 per room, The Real Deal previously reported.

The firm filed plans two years ago to build two eight-story hotels with 200 rooms each and a five-story, 700-space garage for the Hilton.

In that filing, MCR pointed to the growing demand from business travelers seeking accommodations near Miami International Airport.

Events like the FIFA World Cup are projected to boost hotel demand by 4.6 percent this year following a dip last year, according to Marcus & Millichap.

Led by Tyler Morse, MCR is one of the largest hotel owner-operators in the country with 150 hotels in 37 states, according to its website. Its portfolio includes the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, The High Line Hotel in New York City and the Pasadena Hotel & Pool in California.

— Grace McClung