The 43-year-old InterContinental Miami has traded hands for the first time in more than 20 years.
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Miami-based companies Gencom and White Bridge Capital acquired the 652-key waterfront hotel from an entity tracing to Strategic Hotels & Resorts, which is owned by China's Daija Insurance Group, according to a release.
Gencom declined to disclose the price. A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the sale totaled roughly $300M.
“InterContinental Miami is a significant addition to Gencom’s portfolio and represents an important opportunity to deepen our presence in one of the most dynamic and globally recognized markets in the country,” Gencom Chief Investment Officer Alessandro Colantonio said in a statement.
Strategic Hotels & Resorts purchased the hotel at 100 Chopin Plaza, next to Bayfront Park and right on the water, in 2005 for $52.2M, according to public records, though hotels often trade for more than their real estate values.
Prior to the sale, Strategic Hotels & Resorts renovated the 34-story hotel's room interiors and the Club InterContinental Lounge and revamped the pool cabanas and SkyLawn outdoor event space.
Gencom, a hospitality firm led by Karim Alibhai, and White Bridge Capital, which advises wealthy families primarily from Latin America and Southern Europe, plan to update the lobby and food and beverage options.
“Given the recently completed renovation, we can focus on strengthening revenue across rooms, meetings and events, and dining while building on the enhanced guest experience in a market with substantial barriers to entry, the latter of which continues to be a key theme in the firm’s broader investment strategy,” Gencom Managing Director of Acquisitions Ignasi Puig said in a statement.
The deal adds to the more than $1B Gencom has spent on acquiring luxury hotels on the East Coast over the last few years, primarily made up of Ritz-Carlton hotels, and most of which it is investing millions in for upgrades.
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The firm acquired full control of the Marriott brand's Key Biscayne location for more than $400M in 2024 and bought back the majority stake in the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove at the beginning of the year. The firm also spent $320M in February on the 253-key Ritz-Carlton New York.
Gencom also purchased another InterContinental-branded hotel in a joint venture for $230M in New York in December and spent $300M on the 587-room Thompson Central Park at the end of 2024.
The company's acquisition strategy is largely driven toward assets where owners have been unable to reinvest in their properties, Alibhai said onstage at the Advisory, Lodging and Investment Summit for the Caribbean and Latin America in April.
Alibhai told Bisnow in an interview in between panels at the conference that Gencom was searching for more acquisition targets in California, where multiple assets were involved in distressed sales.
“You can have these situations that are distressed because they're just not positioned right,” Alibhai said onstage at the ALIS conference in April. “They're not managed to its fullest potential. They're starved for [capital expenditures].”
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