South Beach's Hotel Nash Listed for Sale

MIAMI—Hotel Nash, a 54-room hotel known as Lord South Beach Hotel, is up for sale. Owned by Hotel Nash, LLC, the hotel sits in the heart of South Beach at 1120 Collins Ave.

Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' managing director Gregory Rumpel and associate Zayli Rodriguez are leading the marketing efforts. Many of the hotel's historic elements were restored when the hotel underwent a complete renovation and was rebuilt from its shell condition in 1999. The hotel, which features three outdoor plunge pools, poolside cabanas and a bar, and a full-service restaurant, targets gay travelers.

“Hotel Nash presents an excellent opportunity for an investor to own a fully renovated historic Art Deco boutique hotel, centrally-located on South Beach, without redevelopment risk,” commented Rumpel. “Given Miami Beach's dearth of quality product, we are excited to be bringing this excellent hotel asset to market.”

As domestic and international investors look to capitalize on the region's strong fundamentals, South Florida's hospitality market has seen several high-profile hotel properties trading in the past two years. As of September, Miami hotels are experiencing an increase in average daily rates of up 4.2% and revenues per available room up 6.9%, according to the latest Smith Travel Research report.

“Hotel Nash's excellent location combined with Miami Beach's competitive market will undoubtedly stimulate strong interest from the investor community,” Rumpel said. “There is plenty of pent-up demand in the market and we have been very successful at matching investors for all of our Miami Beach listings, Hotel Nash will be no exception.”

Hotel Nash was ranked number three of the 50 best new hotels in the world by Travel + Leisure Magazine's “Travel + Leisure 2012 It List.”  It's also the winner of Best New Design, Midscale Hotel by Hospitality Design Magazine and the New York Times described the hotel as having “a comfortable welcoming vibe.”

“I definitely expect the activity to continue, at least the desire to purchase to continue,” Suzanne Amaducci-Adams, a partner in the Miami office of Bilzin Sumberg, tells GlobeSt.com. “But here's the problem: there's not enough product to buy. That pushes the prices of what is available up. That's why you are seeing some people who may not have otherwise been selling their assets selling now. The pricing is so favorable and if they can close this year they have a much more favorable tax treatment.”

Amaducci-Adams reminds that real estate is cyclical and timing is everything. Owners are looking to hit the peak of the cycle—but nobody knows exactly when that is. Although there are X factors like the European financial crisis and the fiscal cliff, Miami's economic factors are attractive. That, says Amaducci, means strong demand for hotels from the consumer and investor side for the foreseeable future.