The $1 billion transformation of the Raleigh Hotel on Miami Beach is dead — long live the Raleigh.
With Michael Shvo and the disgraced Alexander brother brokers (now on trial in New York for a series of alleged rapes) off the redevelopment of the Art Deco building at Collins Avenue and 18th Street, a new sales team for the stalled project has finally been announced.
Compass will relaunch sales for a redesigned complex, which promised a Rosewood Hotel and the beach’s priciest residences. Nahla Capital purchased the site for $270 million last October.
Thankfully, Rosewood is still on board to brand the residences and manage the hotel. New York-based Nahla, led by Genghis Hadi, previously developed Rosewood’s successful 27-unit Rosewood Residences Beverly Hills.
“We are working closely with our partners to bring to life an exceptional experience across the hotel and residences,” a Rosewood spokeswoman said in an email.
Still, the transition from Shvo to Nahla hasn’t been smooth. Starchitect Peter Marino had been tapped to redesign the entire three-acre site and new 17-story tower with 40 residences, but has since withdrawn from the project leading to a new $10 million lawsuit. The architects of record, Miami’s Kobi Karp Architecture, are still involved. They did not return requests for comment.
“Peter’s design is sophisticated and detailed,” an inside source told The Post. “You can’t do a half ass Peter Marino building — you are either all in or out.”
Nahla will also have to obtain the blessing of Miami’s Historic Preservation Board for any new condo tower, any re-massing of the top or any landscaping at the 3-acre compound. The same goes for ground floor renovations to the Art Deco elements at both the Raleigh and the two smaller hotels to the south, The Richmond and the South Seas, that were to be incorporated into the Raleigh grounds.
The new Compass Development Marketing Group team for the future tower includes: Miltiadis Kastanis, Pablo Alfaro, Ivan Chorney, Michael Martirena and Liz Hogan.
“The Raleigh is one of the most storied properties in Miami Beach, and its next chapter demands a team with the expertise and relationships to successfully sell a product of this caliber,” said Hadi. “We selected our brokerage partners based on their proven ability to operate at the highest level with global reach, discretion, and precision. This powerhouse team demonstrated that they understand not just the market, but the magnitude of what The Raleigh represents.”
The upcoming Nahla Raleigh iteration is still expected to encompass around 60 swanky rooms and suites, plus lavish revamps of the Martini Bar and Tiger Room.
With around 215 feet of South Beach oceanfront, plans will still include a Raleigh Beach Club — a private members club and elegant beachfront dining — both initially approved when Tommy Hilfiger bought the hotel in 2014, but scuttled after Hurricane Irma’s 2017 devastation.
Under Shvo, the private Beach Club was to be operated by Italy’s famed Langosteria. While one source said they are no longer involved, the eatery’s rep declined comment. But score a win on Polymarket by betting Nahla will ink a deal with a world-class restaurateur.
As was planned by Shvo and Marino, the entirely separate and new condo tower for the Rosewood Residences will likely include both an opulent fitness center and a private entrance to Rosewood’s Asaya Spa that will also incorporate a stunning Hammam and offer treatments, remedies and body therapies.
Five private villas were to rise behind the façade of the Art Deco Richmond Hotel with the South Seas property turned into a restaurant.
Along with renovating the beachfront pools at the two smaller hotels, the Raleigh’s iconic and curvy fleur-de-lis-like pool — which appeared on the cover of Life magazine, as well as in movies like “The Birdcage,” “Bad Boys” and “Up Close and Personal” — will also be restored.
Announced at the end of 2020, the initial Rosewood Residences were to range in size from just over 2,000 square feet to nearly 8,000 square feet — all with at least 10-foot-high ceilings, demanded by Marino — with prices starting around $10 million. The planned 13,000-square-foot roof house, with a private pool and an outdoor kitchen, was to ask $150 million. But sales where sluggish thanks to the high price, bold design and competition from other new towers — not to mention the allegations swirling about its salesmen, Oren and Tal Alexander.
While Marino has his dedicated fans, the next architect for the upcoming Rosewood Raleigh is likely to create a design with broader appeal. But with so few details set in stone, Compass will have their work cut out for them.
“Our focus was on ensuring the ownership team had a partner capable of delivering not only results, but a vision aligned with The Raleigh’s global stature,” Compass broker Kastanis said. “For a property as iconic as The Raleigh, execution matters at every level.”
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