26 May Hotel developer Nicholas Mastroianni in line for Palm Beach International Airport
Originally posted by Sun Sentinel, May 20, 2016
By Arlene Satchell
Palm Beach County is moving closer to building a hotel on the grounds of Palm Beach International Airport.
The airport’s operator plans to recommend Allied Capital & Development of South Florida LLC, a developer in Jupiter, to lease and develop 10 vacant acres west of Belvedere Road and Australian Avenue.
The Palm Beach County Department of Airports said it will make the recommendation to the Palm Beach County Board of Commissioners if a lease agreement can be worked out with the developer.
“It is our goal to have the agreement to the County Commission by the end of the year,” said Laura Beebe, the department’s deputy director of airport business affairs.
Allied is proposing a five-story, 150-room hotel near one of the airport’s main entrances with direct access from Interstate 95 and the airport’s internal roads.
The hotel would cost about $20.5 million to build and would be expected to open within two years of awarding the contract, Beebe said.
Guidelines stipulate that the hotel be part of a national chain in the category of an upscale or upper-midscale limited-service or select-service hotel. Examples include the Aloft and Element by Westin brands of Starwood Hotels & Resorts; Hotel Indigo by InterContinental Hotels Group; and TownePlace Suites by Marriott International.
Economy or budget brands would not be considered, officials have said.
Ryan Miller, Allied’s director of development, said the company saw the airport project as an opportunity to broaden its work in the hotel industry.
About 1 1/2 years ago, Allied completed the 179-room Wyndham Grand Jupiter at Harbourside Place, its first South Florida hotel and first hospitality project, Miller said.
Before its foray into the hotel arena, Allied developed mostly residential real estate projects. They include luxury townhomes at Marbella Villas in North Palm Beach and the Tierra del Sol condominiums in Jupiter, according to the company’s website.
“It’s an opportunity to have a hotel in another great location,” Miller said of the airport project. “It’s a different type of hotel for our growing hospitality portfolio and one that we know will be successful.”
The hotel would rise near a new airport travel plaza expected to open in June or July.
Allied also is proposing to add two more developments on the airport parcel: an office building and another hotel, assuming there’s enough demand for another hotel, Miller said.