W's parent company, publicly traded Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., will manage the 346-room hotel and the 171 luxury residences for Capri Resorts LLC. Capri Resorts is an affiliate of CL Financial Ltd., a multibillion-dollar entity based in the Caribbean.

Colonial Development Group LLC, also an affiliate of CL Financial Ltd., will be the project's developer. Colonial Development Group LLC's principals are Lawrence A. Duprey, Joseph R. Cook, Daniel E. Adache and Jerrold R. Krystoff.

The project, designed by noted local architectural firm Adache Group Architects, will be developed on 4 1/2 acres on Fort Lauderdale Beach. W Fort Lauderdale Hotel and Residences is scheduled to open in December 2006.

The units will feature views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Intracoastal Waterway and Downtown Fort Lauderdale. The hotel and residences will give guests and residents the service and design offered by W Hotels, including a restaurant, a 10,000-sf spa and fitness facility, a living room lobby and a signature bar.

A select group of homeowners will have the opportunity to buy luxury resort hotel condominium residences that will have the benefits of being attached to a W Hotel. W Residence owners will have access to all the W Hotel facilities, as well as 24-hour room service, daily maid service and concierge service options. An on-site sales center that will include a model room is set to open this year.

"With Fort Lauderdale in the midst of such an extraordinary renaissance, we are excited about opening what will certainly become a landmark destination in this world-class city," Barry S. Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood, says in a statement. "The W Fort Lauderdale will be a welcome addition to South Florida's upscale hotel marketplace, and with South Florida's discriminating real estate market, it is the ideal location for one of our first W Residences."

The first W Hotel opened in December 1998 in New York.

"It's a natural brand extension for W to expand into the serviced resort residential condominium market, where we anticipate W will satisfy the demand for a more distinctive product with the services and amenities of a W hotel," according to Michael Mueller, senior vice president of Development for Starwood.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, a hotel and leisure company, has more than 750 properties in more than 80 countries.