Nov. 22--Andre Balazs, the owner of New York's celebrated Mercer Hotel, the man who transformed a decrepit oil company office in downtown Los Angeles into a place to be seen, has bought Miami Beach's Raleigh Hotel. 

The Lido Spa, a resort in Miami Beach that has seen better days, is also said to be under contract with Balazs. Balazs declined to comment on the Lido. 

Along with New York's Mercer, Balazs owns the storied Chateau Marmont and the Standard hotel, both on L.A.'s Sunset Strip. All three are celebrity haunts, helped along by the hotels' chic modernist design and Balazs' impeccable pedigree: he is married to Katie Ford, CEO of Ford Models. 

This past summer, Balazs opened the Downtown L.A. Standard in the former headquarters of Standard Oil, bringing to L.A.'s button-up financial district the fast and the fabulous, among them Tobey Maguire, Naomi Campbell and the Osbourne offspring. 

Balazs bought the Raleigh from Ken Zarrilli, beating out several unnamed competitors. He had been scouting Miami Beach for over a decade for the ideal hotel, and said the depressed hotel economy made for a "much more reasonable price." 

The latest addition to Balazs' hotel empire thrusts him once again into competition with Ian Schrager, the boutique hotelier who owns the Delano and runs the Shore Club. 

Both are a stone's throw from the Raleigh, which sits at 1775 Collins Ave. Balazs is used to the competition: in Los Angeles, his Standard and Chateau Marmont are 100 yards from Schrager's Mondrian. 

In Miami Beach, Balazs expects to cater to "the same socioeconomic mix" as Schrager's crowd, but with a less raucous atmosphere. 

"It's a fun, sensual place," Balazs said. "We focus on being less of a spectacle, and go for more of a qualitative feel." 

The Raleigh was designed by famed Art Deco architect Larry Murray Dixon, and opened in 1940. Its crown jewels are its lush gardens and curved swimming pool, described by Life magazine as one of the most beautiful in Florida. Balazs has already overhauled the hotel's management but will not start renovations until the tourist season is over. Nightly rates at the 111-room hotel will start at $175. 

Hospitality watchers said having Balazs at the helm bodes well for the hotel. 

"He has has been successful wherever he's gone," said Scott Berman, a hospitality analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers. "And I think Miami Beach fits his personality and style. I expect to see more of South Beach in People magazine." 

Balazs is the second hip hotelier to descend upon South Beach hotels in as many months: The owners of 60 Thompson, a hip hotel in New York's Greenwich Village, have recently assumed management of South Beach's Sagamore Hotel. 

-----To see more of The Miami Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.miami.com 

(c) 2002, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.