Blackstone has paid nearly $300 million for the 352-key East Miami hotel in Brickell, according to sources familiar with the deal. The purchase was made by funds affiliated with Blackstone, a New York-based investment firm, from sellers Trinity Investments of Honolulu and Certares of New York. While the sale closed last week and public deeds show a price of $147.8 million, that figure only reflects the real estate portion and does not include additional assets such as furniture and fixtures.
The East Miami hotel is located at 788 Brickell Plaza within the Brickell City Centre complex. This mixed-use development was completed in 2016 by Swire Properties and covers about five city blocks. It includes approximately 500,000 square feet of retail space, two condo towers known as Reach and Rise, and two office buildings. The hotel also features a rooftop venue called Sugar and offers 89 serviced apartments.
Trinity Investments and Certares acquired the property from Swire in 2021 for $174 million, with recorded deeds showing $120.3 million for that transaction.
Blackstone, led by CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, reported managing around $1.2 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter this year on its website (https://www.blackstone.com/our-businesses/overview/). The company has been active in South Florida recently; this summer it sold a 43.7-acre site for offices and warehouses in Opa-locka for $105.7 million through Link Logistics (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/07/10/link-logistics-blackstone-sell-opa-locka-dev-site-for-106m/)—bringing total sales since November to over $1 billion.
In April, Blackstone purchased Solea at Miami Lakes—a 359-unit apartment complex—for $115.9 million (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/04/23/bh-equities-and-blackstone-buy-miami-lakes-apartments-for-116m/). In May, it provided a $300 million loan for renovations at Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne and Grand Bay Club (https://therealdeal.com/miami/2024/05/16/gencom-fortune-score-300m-loan-for-ritz-carlton-key-biscayne-grand-bay-club-renovations/) on Grand Bay Drive.
Brickell continues to be a central area for real estate activity in South Florida, drawing both new firms to the region and ongoing condo developments.
The sale of East Miami marks another change in ownership within Brickell City Centre. In June, Swire sold its majority stake in the retail and parking components to Simon Property Group for $512 million (https://therealdeal.com/national/south-florida-brickell-city-centre-retail-parking-sale-swire-simon-property-group-june-2025/) . Earlier this year, after canceling plans for an office tower on a nearby development site, Swire sold that land to Melo Group for $200 million (https://therealdeal.com/national/south-florida-brickell-city-centre-melo-group-land-purchase-may-2025/) .
Last month saw Kerzner International of Dubai pay $45 million for almost one acre at Brickell City Centre where it plans future condos and hotel units; specific project details have yet to be announced (https://therealdeal.com/national/south-florida-brickell-city-centre-kerzner-international-condo-hotel-development-july-2025/) .
