Address: 1300 S Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33130
DUA, BRICKELL MIAMI | Photo by Nadia Bouzid
SLS Brickell is becoming DUA Miami Brickell, following the hotel’s sale to Albania’s Kastrati Group in October 2023. The purchase price announced by JLL was $53.5 million for 124 rooms, approximately $431,452 per key. In 2024, the new ownership is introducing the DUA name, with Aimbridge Hospitality taking over hotel operations and a Marriott affiliation through Autograph Collection.
The building at 1300 South Miami Avenue opened in October 2016. Related developed it with sbe and Dakota Development, combining a hotel, privately owned condominium residences, and restaurants under the SLS name. Arquitectonica designed the building, while Philippe Starck designed the hotel interiors. The original offering included 124 hotel rooms and suites and 450 condominium residences, with hotel amenities available to residents.
A little over two years after opening, Related’s sale of the hotel was reported in January 2019 at $43 million, approximately $346,774 per key. The sellers were PRH 1300 Hotel LLC and PRH 1300 Shared LLC. The purchaser, Brickell Miami LLC, was managed by François Faber and later identified as an affiliate of Constellation Hotels Holdings, associated with Qatar’s Al Thani family. The buyer retained sbe to manage the property, so the first ownership change left the SLS identity in place.
Almost five years later, Constellation sold the hotel to Kastrati. JLL’s announced $53.5 million price was $10.5 million above the earlier transaction, although the two figures need context: the former Bazaar Mar restaurant premises had already been sold separately. Simply subtracting the purchase prices would miss that disposal, along with the costs and income of owning the hotel during those years.
DUA takes its name from Albanian, with the hotel presenting it as a reference to love and desire. It will operate as DUA Miami under Marriott’s Autograph Collection, which allows hotels to retain an individual name and identity within Marriott’s portfolio. Kastrati is the owner, Aimbridge is the operator, and Autograph Collection is the Marriott affiliation. Marriott has not bought the building.
There is another owner involved downstairs. In spring 2023, Robert Rivani’s Black Lion Investment Group purchased the restaurant premises formerly occupied by José Andrés’ Bazaar Mar for $10 million. Bazaar Mar had closed in 2019, leaving a BIG second gen restaurant space in a building originally introduced with two prominent chefs: Andrés at Bazaar Mar and Michael Schwartz at Fi’lia.
Black Lion has signed Grupo RosaNegra to a 10 year lease for its first United States restaurant. The announced premises total approximately 13,634 square feet, including 4,634 square feet outdoors. RosaNegra is expected to open in spring 2024, bringing the Mexican group’s combination of Latin American food, music, and entertainment to South Miami Avenue.
That restaurant transaction is separate from the hotel purchase. Kastrati’s acquisition included the approximately 4,530 square foot restaurant space occupied by Fi’lia, while Black Lion owns the former Bazaar Mar premises leased to RosaNegra. Both restaurants sit within the same development, but their real estate belongs to different owners.
The condominiums have their own individual owners, adding another set of interests to the address. SLS brought the hotel, residences, and restaurants together under one recognizable name when the project opened. The sales since then show how differently those parts can move: apartments remain in private hands, the hotel has changed owners twice, and a restaurant landlord has selected its own tenant. For anyone considering a residence here, knowing who owns and operates each part of the building is more useful than relying on the name at the entrance.
Paying cash for a Miami condo? The building’s mortgage eligibility can affect your future resale. Understand what a paid assessment may leave unresolved.