Jan. 15, 2005 - The Fontainebleau Hilton Resort, the largest and most famous hotel in Miami Beach, may be getting another owner.

Stephen Muss, who bought the 920-room resort out of bankruptcy almost 30 years ago, is selling a stake in the property to Aventura-based developer Turnberry Associates, according to a source familiar with the deal.

Turnberry already has partnered with Muss in a major expansion of the hotel at 44th Street and Collins Avenue, and the pending deal would reportedly give the company a significant ownership stake there.

But it was unclear how large of a stake Muss was selling, or if Turnberry -- a commercial and residential developer -- would buy enough equity to become majority owner.

Representatives for Turnberry and Muss either declined to comment Friday or did not respond to requests for interviews.

The mammoth arc-shaped hotel designed by Morris Lapidus was once the premier destination in Miami Beach, welcoming Bob Hope, Elvis Presley and other A-listers after it opened in 1954.

The Fontainebleau's star power helped establish Miami Beach as a stylish post-war winter getaway, but a rise in jet travel and an aging hotel stock saw Americans turn away from South Florida for other destinations in the 1970s.

The Fontainebleau suffered too, and filed for bankruptcy protection.

Muss, who took over his father's chain of Beach hotels in the late 1960s, bought the Fontainebleau in 1978. He funded a major renovation and brought in Hilton as the operator.

The new hotel did well, and its revival helped spark new interest in Miami Beach as a tourist destination, said Stuart Blumberg, president of the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association.

"By buying the Fontainebleau, personally I think Steve Muss saved the hotel industry in this community," Blumberg said.

Muss, 76, who lives at the Fontainebleau, has turned to his daughter, Melanie Muss, for the Fontainebleau's second stab at a revival. She heads up the two condo-hotel towers being built on the Fontainebleau's 18-acre oceanfront compound.

Fontainebleau II, an 18-story building with about 460 rooms, is scheduled to open next month, and analysts see the addition as bringing a much-needed influx of modern rooms to a hotel about to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The third tower, Fontainebleau III, is scheduled to open its 314 units in early 2007.

Muss brought in Turnberry as a partner in the condo-hotel venture.

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