Hyatt To Operate Victor Hotel In South Beach After $48M Re-Do

MIAMI— Zom Development will break ground this week to restore and expand the historic Victor Hotel, located on Ocean Drive in the South Beach area here. The new Victor Hotel will open to guests in the fall of 2003. The property will be owned and developed by the Orlando-based Zom, which recently completed the 35-story Waverly residential tower in South Beach, and will be operated by Hyatt Hotels Corp. The original Victor Hotel, designed by Art Deco architect L. Murray Dixon, originally opened in 1937. The projects revival has been pursued by many over the last decade, according to Hyatt, but is now a reality through the collaborative efforts of Steve Patterson, Zom CEO, and Nicholas Pritzker, chairman, Hyatt Development Corp. Jacque Garcia will be designing the hotel’s interiors. Based in Paris, Garcia has been instrumental in the design of several landmark hotels in Europe, including the Hotel Costes in Paris. He has also been involved with interior design of many restaurants and lounges, including Danube in New York and Le Passage in Chicago. Noting that the revitalization project will create “a truly special place on the beach,” Pritzker said, “We are looking to deliver our traditional high level of service in a very non-traditional format at The Victor that will attract new customers to this upscale boutique hotel.” The Victor Hotel’s construction lender is an affiliate of ING Bank, based in the Netherlands, and the contractor is Milton Construction. The architect spearheading the project is the Miami office of Perkins and Will. “It has been a difficult road in bringing this project to fruition and the news of the Victor’s repeated death have not always been exaggerated. Persistence and a commitment to recreating an historic space with a fresh look unique to South Beach have prevailed,” Patterson said. “The Victor will offer an unusual amount of lobby and terrace level space that will present retail, pool, spa, lounge and dining venues quite unique to Ocean Drive,” he continued. “The 91 guestrooms will offer a level of comfort and finish currently missing in the South Beach market.”