A Palm Beach company has bought a 151-room hotel and marina in Islamorada.
Broker CB Richard Ellis said it represented the seller, Celentano Properties, of Deerfield Beach. The buyer, the company said, was Ceebraid-Signal, which paid $98.25 million, or $7.8 million an acre, or $650,000 per developable unit of Holiday Isle Beach Resorts.
The property, at 84001 U.S. Highway 1, has nine resort buildings, 10 restaurants/retail buildings, one gas station and one marina resort spread over 12.5 acres.
The transaction was not without its problems. Ceebraid Acquisition, a Delaware corporation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection when it failed to obtain financing to close the transaction after two time extensions. The company was controlled by Ceebraid-Signal in West Palm Beach.
The bankruptcy filing preserved Ceebraid Acquisition's contract rights while it tried to work out the financing. While in bankruptcy it agreed to transfer its purchase contract to a special purpose entity, which eventually obtained financing and closed on the transaction.
CB Richard Ellis said the sale attracted worldwide attention from hotel, resort and multifamily developers. The company said it received 23 offers for the property, but did not award the sale to the highest bidder.
"We had groups willing to pay over $100 million," said Robert Given, CB Richard Ellis senior vice president. "Rather, Ceebraid-Signal sought early meetings with the seller and presented a compelling argument that it was the best-suited developer based on the amount of the due diligence completed, which included pricing construction materials and presenting a strong handle on the redevelopment rights and market conditions."
Robert Taylor, another CB Richard Ellis senior vice president, predicted Ceebraid-Signal will try to sell the units near $1.5 million, on average, as condominium-hotel units.
"If they are successful, and market conditions appear to look promising, then this should have an overwhelmingly positive effect on the local community in terms tax revenue, job creation and transient revenue," he added.
Holiday Isle has studio, one- and two-bedroom resort units in its nine residential buildings, CB Richard Ellis said.
Jay Massirman, vice chairman of CB Richard Ellis, called the Florida Keys a strategic area in which his company will continue to focus.
http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2006/04/24/daily6.html

Written by: No Author