Nov. 08–FORT LAUDERDALE — For years, the once-named Trump International hotel has symbolized the recession, a vacant monolith mired in bankruptcy and lawsuits along the city’s beach.
Now the 24-story structure may be a harbinger that the beach has got its groove back, with plans afoot to turn it into a luxury hotel and condominiums.
A partnership is under contract to purchase the never-opened hotel that was originally supposed to greet its first guests in 2009. The group plans to spend more than $100 million to transform the hulking concrete structure about four blocks south of the Bonnet House property, said Heidi Davis Knapik, an attorney representing the partnership.
“The Conrad is a Hilton-luxury brand,” Knapik told the Central Beach Alliance, made up of homeowners and businesses in the area. She said the Conrad has signed a management agreement to operate the hotel portion of the property.
Investors plan a major facelift, adding glass elements and tearing down tall concrete planters that create wall-like barriers on the sidewalk. The changes should give it a softer profile and make it more pedestrian-friendly, Knapik said.
“Our vision here is to start reducing the concrete,” said Roger Grave de Peralta, vice president for the Garcia Stromberg architectural firm working on the project.
Two major changes stand out.
A glass-encased, two-story ballroom and meeting space — “a jewel box” — would connect the complex’s two buildings, three stories up in the air. Its roof would create a greenspace linking the building’s swimming pool and pool-bar on top of a portion of the rear building to a terrace bar on top of the front building.
The second change would add a ground-level hotel cafe along Breakers Avenue at the rear of the building, bringing more activity to that developing stretch of renovated ’50s-era hotels.
The 298-unit complex was originally designed as a condo-hotel, where units are rented out when their owners aren’t staying in them.Trump had his name removed from the hotel because of problems with the original developer over the licensing agreement.
The new proposal would create 181 hotel units and 109 residence-only units, Knapik said. The condo units would be placed in the front building and the top floors of the tower, she said. She couldn’t say if the hotel units would be hotel-only or condo-hotel.
Knapik estimated the hotel could open in about a year and a half.
The purchase price wasn’t disclosed; an official announcement of the group’s plans is expected in December, representatives said.
“It’s been sitting dormant for so long and they’re making it a lot better,” said Alliance president John Weaver, whose membership unanimously supported the project Thursday. “Just the fact that it’s not going to be a big empty eyesore is huge.”
Plans for the property are expected to go before the Planning and Zoning Board in January and the City Commission in March, she said.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for the beach,” Commissioner Dean Trantalis said. “It compliments the luxury accommodations that now grace the shoreline.”
lbarszewski@tribune.com or 954-356-4556
