NYC Hotel Operator Gets $75M Loan for First Site in Florida
The hotel is set to join a district in West Palm Beach that has locked in several retail brands.
BD Hotels is set to move forward with its first property out of New York after scoring a $75 million construction loan.
It will be located in West Palm Beach’s NORA district, a roughly 15-acre development site that’s set to include various restaurants, and entertainment, according to a report from the South Florida Business Journal. Once constructed, the asset, known as Nora Hotel, will feature five stories and consist of 201 rooms. The ground level is set to include a 13,300-square-foot restaurant.
Also, Parisian-style brasserie, Pastis, will operate on the ground floor. Stephen Starr, who owns the brand and is a restaurateur, will provide room service to guests and operate the restaurant and lounge on the rooftop of Nora Hotel.
NORA (North Railroad Avenue) District master developers NDT Development teamed up with Metropolitan Commercial Bank to green-light the mortgage to BD, while JLL arranged the funding.
“Securing financing from Metropolitan Commercial Bank is an incredibly important milestone in moving forward with the construction of The Nora Hotel,” said Richard Born, owner of BD Hotels.
“As an anchor of the Nora District, The Nora Hotel will offer a level of style and sophistication that is unmatched in the area.”
Right now, NORA district has locked in Juliana’s Pizza, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, Garret’s Sports & Recreation Bar, Celis Juice Bar, and Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar, among others, to leases. Plus, second-floor office spaces are available for tenants to scoop up in the development, according to NORA district officials.
Florida has been benefiting from attracting high-net-worth individuals, also known as the wealth migration. The Sunshine State ranks first in domestic and second in international migration, with 1,000 individuals moving to the state every day, according to a recent report from Colliers.
BD is known for its New York City presence, where it owns hotels in areas including Chelsea, Greenwich, and SoHo.
The Nora Hotel project is estimated to be completed by late 2026.