Renovation and Expansion of Historic Hotels in Miami Beach

Representation of Savoy Hotel Partners from 2005 through the economic downturn regarding an attempted foreclosure and sale of the equity interests in the Arlington and the Savoy, two hotels in the National Register Historic District in Miami Beach. We successfully preserved the property's value by keeping the irreplaceable land use approvals valid despite many challenges. The approvals, granted in 2006, are extremely complex and cover the substantial rehabilitation and expansion of the hotels. The approvals became controversial and the property was later down-zoned so that they can never be granted again. We have defended the approvals through two court appeals and numerous economic challenges. In 2010, the new owners hired us to successfully lobby to amend the state statutes to create an additional two-year extension of the existing approvals, which remain valid.