The Raleigh Hotel might be about to get a new owner and it's someone very familiar to your mid-90s wardrobe. Yes, Tommy Hilfiger is in final talks to purchase the historic South Beach Hotel and plans to turn it into a private member's only club and hotel.
"The Raleigh is an incredible hotel with a very special place within the Miami market," Hilfiger said in the statement. "As reported, we're actively working towards making it our flagship property under my new company, Hilfiger Hospitality. Once the purchase is complete, we will share my team's vision to bring The Raleigh brand to life in a way that hasn't been done before."
Hoteliers David Edelstein and Sam Nazarian joined forces to buy the hotel back in 2012 for a price of $55 million from the Brilla group. That company had in turn bought it for $30 million back in 2009 from Andre Balazs. Each new owner has brought talks of renovations and re-imagination, but it keeps changing hands like a hot potato in part because of the renewed hot status of the Miami Beach hotel market.
The price Hilfiger is paying hasn't been revealed yet, nor has the exchange officially closed.
Hilfiger bought a $24 million property in Grand Beach in North Miami just last year.
The hotel will become the first phase of a hospitality business HIlfiger hopes to expand. According to Page Six he hopes to renovate the hotel and turn it into a private member's only club and exclusive hotel similar to Soho Beach House.
The Herald adds that renovations would likely begin in January 2015.
Nazarian's sbe company, which also operates the nearby SLS, currently operates the hotel and will continue to do so.
