(Dec 6): Luxury hotel Fontainebleau Miami Beach sold a US$975 million (RM4.31 billion) commercial mortgage-backed security to refinance debt.

The CMBS is part of a broader US$1.2 billion debt package that includes a mezzanine loan of as much as US$225 million. The almost 1,600-room hotel is also expected to get a US$105 million equity infusion from Jeffrey Soffer, the indirect majority owner of the hotel, marking the total money raised to about US$1.3 billion, according to deal documents.

The proceeds will mostly go toward refinancing around US$1.18 billion of prior debt, comprised of a CMBS and a mezzanine loan. The rest of the funds are earmarked to repay a US$75 million construction loan for new convention center facilities at the hotel, and pay about US$40 million in closing costs, deal documents show. Bloomberg previously reported plans for the refinancing, which was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Representatives for JPMorgan and Fontainebleau Development, run by Soffer, declined to comment. Goldman Sachs didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The hotel, inspired by a French countryside palace, opened in the 1950s and has since been featured in famous films such as Scarface and Goldfinger. Soffer bought the property in 2005 and has overseen renovations in the years since.

Appraised at US$1.72 billion, the hotel has a spa and saloon, pools, retail and a nightclub that often hosts artists such as Lil Wayne and Calvin Harris. It’s also been home to one of the largest structured finance conferences, ABS East, for most years since the 2010s.

A number of blue-chip properties have tapped the private-label CMBS market to refinance debt this year, like the US$3.4 billion bond for the Rockefeller Center, driving sales. Total volumes have skyrocketed to around US$108 billion this year, more than double a year ago. Yet, investments in seemingly safe debt investments on office properties have faced losses for the first time since the Great Financial Crisis.

In 2023, Soffer opened the US$3.7 billion Fontainebleau Las Vegas after more than two decades from when he and his development firm first bought the land.

Uploaded by Siow Chen Ming