MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - March 8, 2005 -- One of South Beach's original Mediterranean revival hotels will once again impress guests the way it did in the 1930s after a complete renovation and new construction under the direction of Versace mansion interior designer J. Wallace Tutt III, who is returning to south Florida after many years in the Bahamas. Tutt is collaborating with Gregg Covin Real Estate Development and nightlife impresario Michael Capponi to recreate the glory days of The Angler's Hotel, which is slated to become a boutique resort condominium in the sought-after lower Washington and Collins Avenue neighborhood.

"We are absolutely thrilled that Wallace is joining us to make The Angler's the choice destination to experience the South Beach lifestyle so celebrated the world over," Covin said today in announcing his new project. "The star power he brings, added to Michael Capponi's incomparable international network of friends, guarantees the kind of instant success we experienced with the Clinique La Prairie Residences at Ten Museum Park."

No stranger to the spotlight, Tutt was responsible for making Gianni Versace's mansion a South Beach icon. Celebrities such as Cher, Jack Nicholson, Barry Diller and Elle MacPherson are also Tutt fans and clients. After the murder of longtime friend Versace, Tutt moved to Harbour Island in the Bahamas. It was there he transformed an antique home into the ultra-exclusive Rock House hotel. The opportunity to attach his signature style to another historic property was enough to bring Wallace Tutt out of retirement and back into the design spotlight.

Built in 1930, The Angler's Hotel is currently uninhabited, though surrounding buildings have become world-famous hotspots. Once completed, The Angler's, located at 634 Washington Ave., Miami Beach, will dazzle guests and residents with 55 fully furnished resort residences, ranging in size from 460 to 1,070 square feet, and a luxuriously landscaped swimming pool and garden lounge. In keeping with the building's tropical history, Tutt will open the Miami Beach outpost of the sought-after Rock House Bar & Restaurant, a magnet for celebrities in the Bahamas.