UPDATED 2:15 p.m., June 4: The Cipriani family is bringing its Italian luxury brand to Miami’s Coconut Grove, sources told The Real Deal.
The famed family will operate the 98-room Mr. C hotel, which is currently under construction, at 3401 and 3405 Main Highway, adjacent and behind the Engle Building. The property, at the corner of MacFarlane Road and Main Highway, would be the first Cipriani hotel in the Southeastern U.S.
Main Highway Partners, owned by the Fort family – led by Bernardo Fort-Brescia, a founding principal of Arquitectonica – purchased the entire block that runs from St. Stephens Episcopal Day School to the Fuller Street alley in 2014. Other family members who are part of Main Highway Partners include his sons Raymond Fort, a designer at Arquitectonica, and Harold Fort, a landscape architect at Arquitectonica GEO.
Records show the group paid $20 million for the property about four years ago and secured a $23.35 million construction loan from Bank of America earlier this year.
Raymond Fort, who oversees the project, did not respond to several messages seeking comment.
The Fort family recently renovated the Engle Building, and leased it to tenants including Büro Group, Harry’s Pizzeria, TKS, Panther Coffee, Le Pain Quotidian and Juicense.
The Cipriani family owned the famous Belmond Cipriani Hotel in Venice, Italy, which it sold in the 1960’s. Maggio and Ignazio Cipriani, the fourth generation of the Cipriani family, own and operates the boutique hotel Mr. C in Beverly Hills, which opened in 2011. They are building a Mr. C – Seaport in New York City.
In Miami, the Cipriani family owns the Cipriani Downtown Miami restaurant.
Coconut Grove is in the midst of major redevelopment, including new condo towers such as Grove at Grand Bay and Park Grove, and a redesigned CocoWalk with an open plaza, a new retail mix and offices. A new Aloft hotel is also planned in downtown Coconut Grove, at 3110 Commodore Plaza, next to GreenStreet Cafe.