Buying Out Andre Balazs

In September we reported that haute hotelier Andre Balazs was hoping to close on the sale of one of South Beach’s iconic hotel properties, the Raleigh. Built in 1940, Balazs purchased the 104-room Art Deco hotel in 2002; seven years later the hotel magnate will earn a reported $30 million from the sale of the Miami landmark in an all-cash deal. In a marriage between metropolises, an investment company headquartered in Chicago, AJ Capital Partners, partnered with Miami-based private equity firm, Brilla Group, to seal the deal and become the proud new parents of the luxury boutique hotel. For the time being, the new joint owners have no intentions to shake things up and are calming the fears of Raleigh enthusiasts by indicating that it will be business as usual.

Balazs indicated that his reasons for unloading the Miami Beach hotel were due to his desire to focus more completely on his other brand of luxury boutique hotels, The Standard, which enjoys locations in both New York and Los Angeles. The Standard Miami Beach, located on the Venetian Causeway, was also one of Balazs’ babies until he sold it last year to a Spanish company for $34 million, though he leased it back and still oversees corporate operations. He originally bought the waterfront property for $9 million.

Via The Real Deal