Mayfair Hotel Sale Brings Renovation, Conversion

COCONUT GROVE, FL-Falor Cos. and an institutional partner have reached a definitive agreement to buy the 179-room Mayfair Hotel here. The post-acquisition plan is to do an extensive renovation to the property and convert it to condominiums. This property is one of several acquisitions Falor is working on in South Florida and Chicago.The current owner of the 179-room Mayfair Hotel is Lodgian, a real estate investment trust based in Atlanta. Due to confidentiality agreements, the agreed-upon sales price was not disclosed.Falor, based in Chicago, is planning to do a $6.5-million renovation and is looking to sell the rooms as condo units. The upgrades would include renovation of the rooms, bathrooms and common areas.In addition, “The rooftop deck area will be significantly enhanced, which will include a much larger, zero-gravity pool,” says Jim Rogers, first vice president of CBRE Hotels, a division of CB Richard Ellis. CBRE represented Falor. The sale is expected to close in early May, and the renovation would start shortly thereafter, Rogers says. The Mayfair Hotel was built in 1985 as part of the Streets of Mayfair mixed-use development.With this acquisition, Falor would own, manage or asset-manage eight properties in South Florida. Among them: the 203-room Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada, which the company acquired last year; the Courtyard in Key West; and the Holiday Inn on Fort Myers Beach.In addition, the company is involved in the acquisition of a number of other hotel properties. Deals currently are in the works for several other properties in South Florida as well as Chicago, according to Rogers.