Buyer in contract for former Trump condo-hotel

Rendering of Conrad Hotel at 551 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard
Rendering of Conrad Hotel at 551 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard

A buyer is in contract to redevelop a vacant beachfront Fort Lauderdale hotel that was to be called Trump International but never opened.

The partnership has plans for a $100 million project at the troubled 24-story property at 551 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard. Instead of 298 units, it would hold 181 hotel rooms and 109 condominium units and be known as the Conrad Hotel. The latter units would be in the front building and on the upper floors, Heidi Davis Knapik, an attorney for the undisclosed partnership, told the Sun-Sentinel.

Architectural firm Garcia Stromberg is handling the changes, specifically the connecting of the two buildings through a two-story glass ballroom and the addition of a ground-floor café.

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The hotel is expected to open in a year and a half, granted all goes smoothly with the Planning and Zoning Board in January and the City Commission in March, the newspaper said.

Trump removed his name from the hotel after a series of lawsuits and a foreclosure, as previously reported. In March, the property was offered in a bulk sale. [Sun-Sentinel]Mark Maurer