MSD Partners is seeking to make major changes to the Boca Raton Resort & Club, one of the largest hotels in South Florida.
Billionaire Michael Dell’s New York-based development group plans to significantly reduce the hotel’s banquet space and instead add more space to the pool area. The plans were filed with the city of Boca Raton in May and will go before the Planning and Zoning Board on July 9.
Last year, a Fitch Ratings report revealed MSD Partners planned to invest $75 million into the 34.4-acre Boca Raton Resort & Spa. MSD Partners purchased the 1,047-room resort for $875 million from Blackstone in June 2019.
The plans would change some of the restaurants at the property at 501 East Camino Real in Boca Raton and would move the upscale Morimoto sushi restaurant to another location at the resort. The new Morimoto restaurant location will replace the existing Monkey Bar and will include a 3,550-square-foot expansion to the existing outdoor Bocce courts, according to the proposal.
The developer is also looking to demolish the resort’s Great Hall ballroom, which totals 41,900 square feet. It will be replaced by the Mizner Ballroom, a 10,000-square-foot event space for meetings, conferences and special events.
The resort also plans to add pools, a surfing simulator, slides, cafes, cabanas, a lazy river, a kid’s “splash pad” and an outdoor restaurant.
The South Florida Business Journal first reported the news.
“Despite the tear-downs, renovations and improvements made over the years, the Boca Resort… is not the global player in the luxury hotel market that it once was,” the proposal said. “Significant renovations internal to the building, improvements to the property and new world-class amenities are required to transform the property back to such a world-class resort.”