Boom or Bust: Miami

New York-based Morgans Hotel Group, best known locally for the Delano and Shore Club hotels, is expanding its presence in South Beach. This time around, the venture is joint, involving local real estate development firm Sanctuary West Ave LLC. Mondrian South Beach will have a hotel component operated by MHG. The interior design is coming from the creative genius of Marcel Wanders who has conceived the hotel as being a “sleeping beauty castle” where guests will step into a “magical world”. Pretty intensely imaginative stuff. The website’s interior renderings are unprecedented in terms of design: possibly comparable to ICON South Beach in abstract and stark design.

Image: Not sure if this is the lobby, but the black spiral staircase is out there.

This project is interesting for a number of reasons. For one, it marks the expansion of Morgans Hotel Group in South Beach. MHG is known throughout the world as being on the cutting edge of the hospitality industry. One can expect ground breaking style and an exceptional class of amenities. Second, it marks the first time MHG is venturing into the residential condo market locally. And, lastly, the placement of this development is telling.

It is situated on West Avenue, away from the center of South Beach tourist activity in an area that has remained largely undeveloped but has seen some interesting developments over the last several years. The Mondrian will join the Flamingo, Waverly, Bentley, Vitri, and a few other smaller scale loft developments) as the new kids on the block.

Image: Wonder if the bells will function. Meditative, I think not.

This area west of Alton Road has not yet developed its own identity unlike the South of Fifth area. The reason behind the lag in development could be attributed to the high concentration large and older condos that are difficult and expensive to acquire and develop. Still there is some active and new retail complexes along the east side of West Avenue and the properties along the west side are on wet lots and have exceptional views.

The Mondrian South Beach, no relation to the Uptown loft project of the same name, is by implication affiliated with MHG’s Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, California. This development is sure to increase activity in this often overlooked neighborhood, which has for too long sat in the shade of the rest of South Beach