A slate of hotel redevelopment projects could soon transform a neglected historic district in Miami Beach. Located near the Miami Beach Convention Center, the Collins Park neighborhood is home to The Bass museum and the Magic City Ballet, but buildings in the area had fallen into disrepair in recent years, opening the door for developers like the Chetrit Group to scoop up properties at reasonable prices in the hot Miami Beach hotel market, according to Kobi Karp, one of Miami's leading architects in historic preservation.
His firm, Kobi Karp Architecture and Interior Design, put together an urban master plan for Collins Park and is the architect of record for seven hotel redevelopment projects in the neighborhood, including Chetrit Group's 294-key Collins Park Hotel at 2000 Park Avenue. "It's a collage of different buildings with different architectural styles," Karp said. "They have been modernized with a total rehabilitation and the sex appeal taken up a notch."
Karp is also designing the renovation and expansion of the Sadigo Court Hotel, a 1936 building that will have 80 rooms when it reopens, and The Peter Miller Hotel, another historic property that underwent a $71 million restoration led by Lennox Hotels’ Diego Agnelli, among others. The Peter Miller is expected to open in July after nine years of being shuttered. When all the projects are completed, the Collins Park District will have more than 500 rooms to compliment the new 800-room convention center hotel being developed a few blocks away, Karp said.
"The lobbies of these hotels feature beautiful terrazzo floors, murals on the wall and luxurious deco finishes to create chic, cutting edge destinations," Karp said. "These buildings can compete with swanky places like the W South Beach by appealing to hipper, millennial travelers that want unique alternative experiences."
