News Archive: February
Former Radisson Hotel Site in St. Lucie County, Florida Sold to Las Vegas Billionaire, Phil Ruffin
February 3, 2014
Feb. 03--ST. LUCIE COUNTY -- A Las Vegas billionaire has purchased the site of the former Radisson Hotel on North Hutchinson Island. On Dec. 11, Ruffin Properties LLC of Wichita, Kan., purchased the 11.78-acre beachfront property at the corner of State Road A1A and Shorewinds Drive for $6 million from Greenwood Development Corp. of Florida Inc., according to records from the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser's Office. The limited-liability company is owned by Phil Ruffin of Las Vegas, owner of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino on the Vegas Strip. Ruffin couldn't be reached for comment Monday to discuss his plans for the property. The s...
Plans Move Forward for 400-key Condo-Hotel on Former Radisson Site in St. Lucie Cty, Florida
February 4, 2014
Feb. 04--ST. LUCIE COUNTY -- Plans to build a 400-bed condo-hotel at the site of the old Radisson Hotel on North Hutchinson Island are moving forward despite a change in land ownership. In December, billionaire Phil Ruffin, the owner of Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, spent $6 million for the 11.78-acre property at the corner of State Road A1A and Shorewinds Drive, where Singer Island developer George Heaton wanted to build a condo-hotel. However, Heaton's purchase plans fell through, said real estate broker Bob Lowe, owner of Lowe's International Realty Plus, who connected Ruffin with the property. Lowe said Ruffin flew ...
Salem Waterfront Hotel, Salem MA Planning $12 million Expansion
February 4, 2014
Feb. 04--SALEM -- The owners of the Salem Waterfront Hotel have filed plans to build a second phase of the Pickering Wharf development. Plans were filed last week for a $12 million project that would include a six-story building along the South River with 32 hotel rooms, 14 residences, a ballroom and conference space, a restaurant with outdoor dining, and a locker room and showers for marina guests. An elevated glass walkway would connect the new building to the 86-room Salem Waterfront Hotel, which opened in 2004. With this addition, the hotel developers said they will be able to keep more tourism business in the city and compete with ...
Former Hotel Developer, Robert Falor, Sentenced to Six-Years for Evading $1.7 million in Taxes
February 1, 2014
Feb. 01--A former Chicago real estate developer who converted hotels in Chicago, Miami Beach and other cities into condominium-hotels has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty last year on federal tax evasion charges, prosecutors said. Robert D. Falor, 48, pleaded guilty in May to failing to pay more than $1.75 million in taxes between 2004 and 2007. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall said in a hearing today that Falor was "a one-man financial crime wave," according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office. His brother and father also were part of the scam, however, prosecutors say. Falor, who lives in C...
$30 Million Hotel, Conference Center Proposed for Old Doña Ana County Courthouse in Las Cruces, NM
February 18, 2014
Feb. 18--LAS CRUCES -- Las Cruces businessman Bob Pofahl has teamed up with the owner of the former Doña Ana County Courthouse in an effort to remake the downtown landmark into a five-star hotel, conference center and complex with restaurants and boutiques, he said. "The vision for the hotel is to create something similar to La Fonda or La Posada in Santa Fe or the Hotel Parq Central in Albuquerque, where the building's history is preserved during the redevelopment progress," said Pofahl of his plans with owner John Hoffman of El Paso. Pofahl, managing partner for Las Cruces Community Partners LLC, is no stranger to re-imagining large ...
Major Renovation, Costs Approaching $270M, Underway for 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach in Miami
February 22, 2014
Feb. 22--A little more than a year ago, owners of the former Gansevoort-turned-Perry hotel in Miami Beach announced they would turn the property into a high-end earthy new brand by pouring more than $100 million into the project. Months after closing the hotel and buying out condo owners, they're still pouring. The cost of project, set to open this fall as 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, is now approaching $500 million, including the 2012 purchase price of $230 million. "In order to put a product in the market that was commensurate with the prices, we went into a major upscale of the investment," said Richard LeFrak, president of LeFra...
$64M 220-room Westin Hotel Project Near El Paso, Texas Airport to Begin in June 2014
February 7, 2014
Feb. 07--El Paso engineer William Correa said he expects to have his dream hotel under construction by June. Correa, an El Paso native who is president and owner of Paragon Project Resources, an engineering and development firm he started in Dallas 25 years ago, is the brain behind the proposed, $64 million, 220-room, upscale Westin Hotel and 80,000-square-foot restaurant and retail project to be built on nine acres of El Paso airport-owned land on Airway Boulevard near Montana Avenue. Correa announced Thursday that Paragon's development company, EP Vida, selected Jordan Foster Construction, a large El Paso-based general contractor, to ...
ZJZ Hospitality Completes Multi-Million Dollar Renovation of Embassy Suites Corpus Christi in Texas
February 13, 2014
Feb. 13--CORPUS CHRISTI -- After forming an investment company to purchase and revamp Embassy Suites Corpus Christi with a retro-modern design, company CEO Deven Bhakta questioned his decision, he said. "I know the business, Corpus Christi and the hotel's clientele," Bhakta said. "Embassy Suites was a marquis hotel from the 1980s that was a bit neglected and tired." He didn't know much of the place was held together with duct tape, he said. "Sometimes you wonder if you're taking on something too old," Bhakta said. "But now our guests are raving, and those pains are going away." ZJZ Hospitality, the development company that acquired the ...
