Karim Alibhai’s Gencom and Edgardo DeFortuna’s Fortune International Group are teaming up to combine two Key Biscayne waterfront sites, consisting of a Ritz-Carlton hotel and a private beach club.
The partnership, led by Miami-based Gencom, secured a $300 million loan from New York-based Blackstone to refinance existing debt, fund a $100 million renovation currently underway at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne at 455 Grand Bay Drive, and a planned renovation next year of the Grand Bay Club at 425 Grand Bay Drive, a press release states.
The Blackstone loan replaces a $210 million Citibank mortgage obtained in 2023, records show.
The joint venture plans to create a master plan for the combined 22-acre site featuring 1,200 linear feet of beach frontage, the release states.
This month, a Fortune affiliate sold Grand Bay Club, a 14,463-square-foot private beach club on 2.4 acres, to a Gencom affiliate for $20 million, records show. Gencom partially financed the purchase by adding Grand Bay Club as collateral to an existing line of credit with Goldman Sachs Bank and Banco Inbursa S.A. that increased from $20 million to $47.4 million, records show.
Miami-based Fortune had paid $16 million in 2007 for Grand Bay Club, which features a pool, a Jacuzzi, an event room, dining, a fitness center, tennis courts, a spa, salon, and private beach with towel, food and beverage service.
In January, Gencom purchased a majority stake in the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne from Brookfield Asset Management in a deal valued at more than $400 million, Bloomberg reported. The sale price was not recorded in the deed transfer.
Gencom completed the 13-story, 291-room Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne in 2001. The firm sold two-thirds of the resort for $325 million in 2015 to Carey Watermark Investors. Toronto-based Brookfield assumed the majority stake when the global investment firm purchased Carey Watermark’s parent for $3.8 billion in 2022.
