May 04--A shell of a hotel is up for sale in a stretch of South Beach that has been seeing plenty of development.

The Royal Polo Hotel, 2940 Collins Ave., is being marketed for sale by brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. According to the firm, the seven-story hotel is approved by the planning department in Miami Beach for 96 rooms, a restaurant and a lounge. It has been closed for several years.

The property's owner, Jonathan Plutzik, bought the site in 2005 for $6.5 million, property records show. Plutzik also owns The Betsy, a boutique hotel on Ocean Drive. Gregory Rumpel, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels in Miami, said he expects the property to sell for more than $14 million.

The Royal Polo sits across the street from the rising Miami Beach Edition, the Ian Schrager partnership with Marriott International that is set to open in early 2014. The former Saxony hotel three blocks north is also undergoing a major transformation.

"Here you have an opportunity to take projects from nothing to something," Rumpel said. "It's a great part of the beach. Two or three of these open, it's going to change the landscape of that strip. It's going to be the power alley."

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