Aug. 27–The Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port Hotel in Dania Beach will undergo a major renovation to its 250 guest rooms and public areas, a spokesman for its owner says.
The upgrades will elevate the Sheraton to four-star level, and it will be renamed to bring a new luxury Starwood Hotels & Resorts brand into the market, Brad Shepherd, vice president of Cohen Brothers Development Corp. of Florida, told Broward County Commissioners this week.
Shepherd made the comments as commissioners considered prospective developers of a $550 million Broward convention center expansion and headquarters hotel.
Cohen Brothers Development was eliminated from the pool of six developers after failing to provide required financial documents and it lacked prior hotel development experience.
Five companies were selected to move to the next step of the process.
A company spokesman said Wednesday that more details about the Sheraton renovation are expected to be released next year when plans are more definite.
Last year, an affiliate of Cohen Brothers Realty of New York — led by real estate developer Charles Cohen — bought the Sheraton at 1825 Griffin Road for $34.3 million, Broward County property records show.
The Sheraton is adjacent to the Design Center of the Americas, also owned by Cohen Brothers Realty. The hotel opened in December 1986 as the Sheraton Design Center.
DCOTA provides nearly 800,000-square- feet of showrooms for designers of high-end fabrics, lighting fixtures, custom-built kitchen cabinetry and furniture, as well as office space. Cohen has invested about $30 million on upgrades to the center since acquiring it about a decade ago.
DCOTA also is undergoing more renovations, including modernization of its atrium and the addition of parking to accommodate more tenants such as Chiquita, Shepherd told commissioners.
Chiquita is moving the U.S. headquarters for its banana division to DCOTA.
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