$25M Sale Kick Starts Condo-Hotel Conversion

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-Locally based DSI Sunrise LLC purchased the 230-room DoubleTree Guest Suites hotel here for $25 million, or approximately $108,695 per room. The seller of the all-suites hotel was a fund managed by Thayer Lodging Group of Annapolis, MD. DSI Sunrise plans to renovate the property, built in 1990, and convert it to a condominium-hotel. With this concept, units can be put in a pool of rooms to be rented to guests when owners are not using them. The hotel is located at 2670 E. Sunrise Blvd. on the Intracoastal Waterway, next door to the Galleria mall and near area beaches.DSI Sunrise plans to give the hotel a multimillion-dollar renovation that will include work on all the rooms, the exterior and common areas, says Joshua Schrager of Whalen Realty Capital LLC, who was involved in the sale. The rooms now include fully equipped kitchens, living and dining areas, a queen-size sleeper couch and private voice mail. Amenities include a heated pool, a Jacuzzi, saunas, a fitness room, business services and a full-service restaurant and bar.There has been no word on whether the new owners will change the hotel’s name, which will remain the same for now, according to Schrager. Paul Whalen and Schrager of Whalen Realty Capital, based in Hollywood, FL, arranged the sale. Whalen Realty Capital and Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP arranged the financing for the acquisition through an undisclosed local bank.When complete, the DoubleTree Guest Suites will become just one of several condo-hotel developments in South Florida. Harrick Development LLC is developing the new, 20-story, luxury condominium-hotel the Carlyle in West Palm Beach. David Gostfrand, a partner with Harrick Development, noted a need for this type of residence in the area.

Paul Whalen says condo-hotel units are attractive because owners can get income while they are not occupying the units. “Condo-Hotel ownership is attractive to individual owners because it provides the unit owners with the benefit of a second home while at the same time having an income source from renting the room out through the reservation pool,” he says.