A retail giant known for its extensive offerings of fishing tackle and indoor aquariums is moving into the Florida Keys luxury hotel market.
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Bass Pro Shops agreed to pay more than $300M to acquire Cheeca Lodge & Spa, a 254-room famed fishing resort off Overseas Highway in Islamorada, from Northwood Investors, Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the transaction.
Cheeca, which opened in 1946 and was founded by the heir to the A&P grocery chain, now consists of 26 buildings, including the main lodge, three restaurants, a nine-hole golf course, a spa, a saltwater lagoon and three swimming pools. It also has a 525-foot fishing pier that has hosted several luminaries over the years, including former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Harry Truman, Oscar-winning actor Paul Newman and author Ernest Hemingway.
“I have come to have enormous respect for the history of Islamorada, and the generations of anglers and families who have made memories here or who are blessed to call the Keys home,” Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris said in a Tuesday press release. “We’re humbled and honored to have the opportunity to help protect it and carry that story forward.”
Bass Pro Shops has nearly 200 stores in the U.S., each spanning an average of 120K SF. It also operates several resorts that host more than 7 million visitors per year, including Big Cedar Lodge and Bass Pro Shops Angler’s Lodge in Missouri and the pyramid-like Big Cypress Lodge in Memphis, Tennesse, The Real Deal reported.
In 2022, Morris announced plans to develop a fishing resort called Valhalla Island Resort in the Florida Keys. It was unclear if those plans had changed in light of Bass Pro Shops’ Cheeca deal.
Northwood acquired Cheeca in 2011. It has since expanded the resort with 43 oceanfront suites, a 10K SF conference center and 11 luxury casitas. In 2020, Northwood acquired the neighboring Casitas and Morada Bay properties to further expand the resort.
Daniel Peek, president of JLL’s hotel and hospitality group, brokered the sale for Northwood, Bloomberg reported.
