Carey Watermark Investors, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, has purchased a majority stake in the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale.
The company said in a release that it made the purchase in a joint venture with an affiliate of Gencom, a hospitality and multifamily manager and developer.
This marks the third investment by the joint venture, all of which were Ritz-Carltons. The other locations are in Philadelphia and Key Biscayne, and Carey valued them at more than $500 million.
The company said the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale condo-hotel was an attractive investment because of its beachfront location and Fort Lauderdale’s growing hospitality market.
The Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale is also in the midst of a $9 million renovation, which includes the creation of an indoor-outdoor bar and a 3,700-square-foot retail store. The building’s public areas, lobby, restaurant and spa will also get a facelift.
“The joint venture investment in The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale represented the opportunity to acquire the only AAA Five Diamond hotel in Fort Lauderdale—a strong-growth market that benefits from solid fundamentals and a strategic location with respect to air transportation and leisure demand generators,” wrote Michael Medzigian, CEO of Carey Watermark, in the release.” — Sean Stewart-Muniz