The beachfront B Ocean Resort Fort Lauderdale — formerly known as the Yankee Clipper — sold for $126.9 million, marking one of the biggest South Florida hotel deals this year.
Boston-based Rockpoint Group and Fort Lauderdale-based InSite Group, through an affiliate, bought the 481-key resort for $117.9 million, records show. They paid an additional $9 million for an adjacent 1.8-acre parking lot.
InSite also was on the seller’s side, as it is tied to the entity led by The Carlyle Group that sold the properties.
The deal equates to $263,773 per room.
The larger of the two deals was the sale of the resort buildings and lots at 1101, 1127 and 1140 Seabreeze Boulevard, as well as at 1136 and 1140 Holiday Drive. In the smaller deal, Rockpoint purchased the parking lots at 3048 and 3054 Harbor Drive.
The hotel originally was developed as the Yankee Clipper in 1956. It spans 3.3 acres.
The selling entity bought the resort for $107 million in 2014 from Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group, according to public records. It rebranded it as the B Ocean Resort following renovations.
Carlyle Group, based in Washington, D.C., is a global investor with $276 billion of assets under management across its three business segments of global private equity, investment solutions and global credit, according to its website. Founded in 1987, Carlyle is led by Kewsong Lee.
Rockpoint, led by co-founder Keith Gelb, is a real estate private equity firm. It has other South Florida investments. In May it bought a stake in Mast Capital’s long planned Miami Beach condominium at 4000 Alton Road.
InSite, led by Ben Shmul, is a real estate investor, with other South Florida assets including the 101-key Sagamore Miami Beach, the 253-key Nautilus Hotel in Miami Beach and the 231-key GALLERYone – DoubleTree Suites by Hilton in Fort Lauderdale.
The tri-county region’s hospitality market has been emerging from the pandemic, with tourism bouncing back, though convention business is still lagging.
Still, South Florida saw some top-dollar hotel sales this year. In the biggest deal, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust bought the 369-key Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort in June for $270 million.
In July, Fort Partners purchased the Four Seasons Miami hotel in Brickell for about $130 million. And this month, Wheelock Street Capital bought the newly built The Ben West Palm Beach for $106.4 million.