Keyah Real Estate Group Plans Seven-Story Hotel on Washington Avenue

Keyah Real Estate Group, based in Aventura and led by Xaver Kriechbaum and Gavin Crescenzo, is set to develop a seven-story, 238-key hotel on South Beach’s Washington Avenue. According to property records, the project involves demolishing a single-story retail building and a 13-unit apartment building at 1509 and 1515 Washington Avenue, which the firm purchased for $20 million.

The seller, Miami Beach-based investor Jimmy Resnick, originally acquired the retail building for $550,000 in 1987 and the apartment building for $4.6 million in 2006. Resnick has provided Keyah with $15 million in seller financing for the acquisition.

In July, the Miami Beach Planning Board and Miami Beach Historic Preservation Board will review Keyah’s proposal, which includes 238 rooms, a 5,677-square-foot ground-floor restaurant, a second-floor pool deck, and a 3,525-square-foot rooftop restaurant. The project, designed by Coconut Grove-based Arquitectonica, will cover 91,230 square feet.

Keyah is also in discussions with Cloud One Hotel, a European hospitality brand in New York City, regarding a potential branding partnership for the new hotel, according to plans submitted to Miami Beach.

Last year, Resnick nearly sold the properties to Urbin, a subsidiary of Coral Gables-based Location Ventures. However, the deal fell through after Location Ventures faced multiple lawsuits over defaulted loans and nonpayment issues, leading to its downfall. Rishi Kapoor, the former CEO of Urbin and Location Ventures, had planned to transform the existing buildings into a co-living condo project, but those plans were abandoned.

Kapoor, currently embroiled in several legal battles, including a federal civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, had also proposed a co-living project at 1260 Washington Avenue. That project started construction last year but has since been halted.

In recent years, Miami Beach officials have encouraged the redevelopment of older commercial properties along Washington Avenue by allowing hotel, multifamily, and short-term rental uses. In 2021, New York-based Lightstone completed the seven-story, 202-key Moxy South Beach at 915, 947, and 955 Washington Avenue. The same year, New York-based Imperial Companies opened the $200 million Goodtime Hotel at 601 Washington Avenue, which features 266 rooms and is operated by celebrity music producer Pharrell Williams, hospitality mogul David Grutman, and designer Ken Fulk.