Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is buying Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort for $270 million, which would be the biggest South Florida hotel sale this year.
The real estate investment trust is in contract to acquire the 369-key Jimmy Buffett-inspired resort at 1111 North Ocean Drive in Hollywood, according to the company. Pebblebrook, one of the country’s largest hotel owners, expects to close on the deal in the third quarter at a price per key of $731,700.
Maryland-based Pebblebrook could assume up to $161.5 million of secured, nonrecourse debt, it said.
The 18-story Margaritaville includes an 11,000-square-foot spa, oceanside pools, an 11th-floor pool and 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, according to its website. It sits on 4.6 acres.
The seller is KSL Capital Partners, which bought the resort in 2018 for $190 million. The deed was recorded for $97.9 million and the ground lease for $28.6 million, with furniture, fixtures and other hotel ancillary uses likely accounting for part of the remaining $63.5 million.
KSL bought it from Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort LP, a joint venture between property developer Lon Tabatchnick and Starwood Capital Group. KSL declined comment.
Pebblebrook, led by president and CEO Jon Bortz, owns 51 hotels, totaling about 12,600 keys. In Florida, it owns the Hotel Colonnade in Coral Gables and two properties in Key West and one in Naples. Most of its hotels and resorts are on the West Coast, along with Illinois, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, according to its website.
The deal comes at a time when the South Florida hotel market is still working its way back from pandemic closures and restrictions. Tourism has returned but cruise and convention bookings are still down, which add to hotel business.
High-priced hotel investment sales have also been scarce this year.
A joint venture of the Allen Morris Company, Stormont Hospitality and Black Salmon bought Circa 39 hotel in Miami Beach for $25.5 million this month. In Edgewater, TPG Real Estate Partners bought two adjacent hotels for $61 million, also this month.