Swire Properties Inc. Sells EAST, Miami to Trinity and Certares

Miami, FL
November 1, 2021
Business Wire

Swire Properties Inc., one of South Florida’s leading international developers, announced today that it has completed the sale of the 352-key EAST, Miami hotel to a joint venture among funds managed by Trinity Fund Advisors LLC, an affiliate of Trinity Real Estate Investments LLC (“Trinity”), and funds managed by Certares Real Estate Management LLC (“Certares”). The $174 million deal represents a significant real estate transaction in Miami’s hospitality sector, having attracted numerous competitive offers. Swire Hotels, a division of Swire Properties Limited, will continue to manage and operate EAST, Miami under the EAST brand, providing guests with the vibrant experience and personalized luxury service they have come to expect.

“When we began the process of developing Brickell City Centre, we knew that EAST, Miami would play a key role in establishing Brickell as the destination of choice in Miami for unparalleled dining and entertainment, with Brickell City Centre as the epicenter,” said Kieran Bowers, President of Swire Properties. “We are very proud of our team that has driven this growth and the role the EAST brand has played in revolutionizing the guest experience for lifestyle hotels. We look forward to continuing to manage the hotel alongside the new owners Trinity and Certares and welcome their endorsement of EAST and Swire Hotels Management.”

Swire Properties intends to reinvest the capital into future developments that will contribute to further enhancing the city, forming part of the company’s ongoing business strategy to recycle capital and channel it to new projects. With a presence in Miami for the last 40+ years, Swire Properties remains committed to making Miami and the Brickell neighborhood a world-class urban destination.
“This deal marks one of the largest hotel transactions in South Florida since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it’s the first out of our inaugural commingled fund,” said Sean Hehir, Managing Partner, President and CEO of Trinity. “We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership with Swire and Certares, and we plan to leverage our operational expertise to implement a focused strategy that drives efficiencies, advancing ADR growth and profitability. This transaction is representative of our ability to source and close highly attractive investment opportunities that present compelling upside for our investors and partners.”

Designed by Arquitectonica, Studio Collective and Clodagh Design, EAST, Miami offers 352 guest rooms, eight suites and 89 residence suites and features the following distinctive experiences available to both local residents and visitors to Miami: signature restaurants Sugar, the 40th floor Asian inspired rooftop bar and garden serving tapas and Quinto La Huella, the first-ever outpost of Uruguay’s beachside Parador La Huella; 20,000 square feet of event space and outdoor venues; state-of-the-art fitness facilities including the hotel’s gym BEAST and the 20,000 square-foot outdoor Pool & Deck area; cutting edge technology, and quality amenities. The property’s highly acclaimed Climate Ribbon, an architectural fixture located in the middle of Brickell City Centre’s commercial sector, uses natural wind currents to cool the space without requiring the addition of cooling units. The hotel has also achieved LEED certification, citing resource efficiency by using less water and energy, as well as a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Since its opening, EAST, Miami, and its dining venues Quinto La Huella and Sugar Miami, have garnered numerous awards, and have been included in several reputable rankings in outlets such as AFAR, Conde Nast Traveler, U.S. News & World Report, and Time Out Miami. EAST, Miami is part of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest independent hotel brand, representing more than 700 distinctive hotels, resorts, residences, and unique hotel groups across 80 countries.

“We are thrilled to acquire the EAST, Miami, which we believe is positioned as the premier hotel in the Brickell submarket, located at the epicenter of a vibrant ‘live, work, play’ neighborhood. This investment is consistent with Certares’ strategy of acquiring well-located, high-quality hotels in growing markets that display both strong leisure and corporate demand fundamentals. Utilizing the inherent synergies of the entire Certares platform, we look forward to working alongside our partners at Trinity and Swire to further enhance what is already a very successful hotel operation,” said Nolan Hecht, Senior Managing Director and Head of Real Estate at Certares.

Swire Hotels was created to manage refreshingly individual hotels in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and the USA, providing a characterful experience for well-travelled individually minded travelers who seek originality, style, and personalized service. As the anchor hotel for Swire Properties’ $1.05 billion, 5.4 million-square-foot mixed-used Brickell City Centre, and Swire Hotels’ first venture into North America, EAST, Miami opened in May 2016.

About Swire Properties Inc.

Swire Properties Inc, headquartered in Miami since 1979, is one of South Florida’s leading international developers of urban office, hotel and condominium properties. The powerhouse developer is known for its $1-billion, master‐planned development of Brickell City Centre and the island of Brickell Key in downtown Miami. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the publicly listed Swire Properties Limited based in Hong Kong, which is widely recognized for its commitment to sustainable development, and is the only constituent company from Hong Kong listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World). In addition to Hong Kong and the United States, the Company has investments in the Chinese Mainland, Indonesia and Vietnam. For more information, visit www.swireproperties.us.

About EAST, Miami

EAST, Miami is Swire Hotels’ first venture into North America, following the openings of EAST in Hong Kong and Beijing. Created for unconventional travelers looking for a fun and relaxing place to stay, EAST, Miami offers distinctive experiences for those seeking innovation, style, and personalized service. EAST, Miami offers 352 guest rooms to include eight suites and 89 one, two and three-bedroom residence suites (fully equipped apartments with kitchen, laundry facilities and full access to the amenities and services of the hotel). Guests can expect keyless entry, paperless check-in and check-out, a native App with locally curated insights and travel tips, art exhibits, health and wellness programing and array of other happenings to make them feel totally at EAST. The hotel boasts its signature restaurant Quinto La Huella; a poolside bar & lounge and a rooftop destination bar called Sugar; 20,000 square-feet of meeting and banquet rooms with bay and city views; a 20,000 square-foot outdoor pool deck (with four different pools) which can be used for private events; a lobby café and bar, Domain, and a 24-hour fitness center. Located at 788 Brickell Plaza, Miami, Florida 33131, the hotel is centrally located within a 15-minute drive from the Miami International Airport and situated on top of Brickell City Centre – conveniently connected to popular districts such as Wynwood, the Design District, and South Beach. For reservations, please email reservations@east-miami.com or call 305-712-7000. For more information on EAST, Miami please visit www.east-miami.com.

About Trinity Real Estate Investments LLC

Trinity is a private real estate investment firm with a 25-year history of generating value-add returns. Since its inception, Trinity has consummated more than $7 billion worth of global real estate transactions in the United States, Mexico, Europe, and Japan by leveraging its deep institutional knowledge and longstanding local relationships. With expertise covering the full spectrum of property investment, development, and value-enhancing asset management, Trinity focuses on unique and opportunistic real estate investments in world-class markets. Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, with an office in Beverly Hills, California, Trinity’s pursuits span an array of geographic locations, but share the commonality of being predicated upon top-quality local relationships and teams of professionals to source, execute, and realize investments within each of its target markets. For more information, please visit www.trinityinvestments.com.

About Certares

Established in 2012, Certares, together with its affiliates, focuses on direct investments in proprietary transactions, leveraging deep sector experience in the travel and hospitality industries, and with a consistent emphasis on partnership with management teams to drive growth. Certares brings together a team with decades of both operational and investment experience in private equity, travel, tourism, hospitality and travel-related business and consumer services. For more information, please visit www.certares.com.