FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—The Lauderdale Beachside Hotel has a new owner. Florida Development Group acquired the hotel from Maria Yip, the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Trustee for Ocean 4660, LLC, for $17 million in an all-cash deal.

Located at 660 North Ocean Drive in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL, the 147-room hotel had been previously subject to foreclosure and subsequently filed for bankruptcy protection. The sale was conducted at the direction of Yip pursuant to section 363 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The new owners are real estate developers from the Ukraine and will keep the hotel open for business.  

The Miami-based CBRE Hotels professionals involved in the transaction include Christian Charre, Robert Taylor, Paul Weimer, and Natalie J. Castillo. Ken Pearson and Chris Shamaly, distressed asset and restructuring professionals in CBRE's Dallas office, managed the sales process on behalf of the trustee and worked closely with the trustee's legal counsel, Drew Dilworth of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A. in Miami.  

"The demand for beach properties in South Florida is not abating,” says Charre. “On the contrary, it continues to attract investors from around the world, as demonstrated at the auction for this property, where two out of four bidders were foreign investors. Investor appetite for beach locations in Florida is no longer concentrated to Miami Beach, but has spilled over into Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach."

Built in 1975, the Lauderdale Beachside Hotel is located on about 2.86 acres of coastline in the city of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, a popular vacation destination just a few minutes north of Downtown Ft. Lauderdale. The hotel property includes two free-standing buildings with 150 feet of beachfront access, and includes amenities such as a restaurant, tiki bar on the sand and a swimming pool.

“This sale will significantly help to revitalize the area and serve as a catalyst to make Lauderdale-by-the-Sea a real destination,” says Linda Worton Jackson, cofounder of the Miami-based law firm Salazar Jackson, who represented the buyers in the sale. “The new owners are planning a major renovation of the hotel.”