UPDATED July 12, 6:40 p.m.: Ricardo Tabet’s Optimum Development USA just secured $52 million in financing for the renovation and expansion of the former Park Central Hotel on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach.
BB&T is providing the financing, which takes over a previous $40 million loan and adds a new $12 million mortgage. Optimum has been working on the redevelopment since at least 2014, when it broke ground on the project at 640 Ocean Drive.
Optimum paid a combined $51 million for the Art Deco hotel in 2013, which includes nearly 300 feet of frontage on the touristy street. At the time, the property consisted of Park Central, the Imperial Hotel, the Healthcote Apartments and vacant land. Goldman Properties was the seller.
The hotel is currently closed, but Tabet said he intends to re-open in December. The four-building resort, called the Celino South Beach, will feature 132 rooms, 33 suites, three restaurants and bars and two pools, including one on its roof. Highgate will manage the hotel and Toronto-based Ink Entertainment will run the food and beverage operations.
The developer is a subsidiary of the Luxembourg-based Optimum Asset Management Group. The company also owns property in North Beach and Brickell, as well as at 600 Collins Avenue.
The owner of the nearby Betsy Hotel recently completed a renovation and expansion of that Art Deco property at 1440 Ocean Drive. Architect Allan Shulman worked on the project, which included adding an “orb” that connects the Betsy’s buildings.