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\tBrian Bandell
\n\tSenior Reporter-South Florida Business Journal<\/p>\n
\tThe Fontainebleau resort hotel in Miami Beach got a $123 million boost to its loan through refinancing and signed an agreement that foreshadows its plans for legalized gambling.<\/p>\n
\tIt also appears the ownership of half the hotel changed hands.<\/p>\n
\tThe hotel that opened in 1954 and was renovated a few years ago for $1 billion saw its mortgage ramped up to $535 million thanks to JPMorgan Chase Bank (NYSE: JPM).<\/p>\n
\tThe 1,504-room resort covers more than 20 acres and includes 12 restaurants and nightclubs, a 40,000-square-foot spa and a marina.<\/p>\n
\tThe loan secures not just that real estate but the hotel\u2019s intellectual property in multiple countries as well.<\/p>\n
\tOn the same day as the loan extension, the partners who previously own the hotel together, Turnberry Associates developer Jeffrey Soffer and Istithmar Hotels, the investment arm of Dubai World, filed an earnout agreement in Miami-Dade County court records. It stated that the FBIW Acquisition, a company incorporated in October in Delaware, would pay Istithmar a \u201cgamings earning\u201d in the event that Florida legalizes gambling.<\/p>\n
\tMario A. Romine, Turnberry\u2019s senior VP and general counsel, was the authorized signator for both Soffer\u2019s companies and FBIW Acquisition, which indicates they are related.<\/p>\n
\tGiven that the term \u201cearnout\u201d refers to compensation on the back end of an acquisition, it appears that Soffer\u2019s group bought out Dubai World\u2019s 50 percent stake in the hotel and promised to given them residual payments should Florida legalize gambling.<\/p>\n
\tThe fact that such an agreement exists makes it clear that Soffer believes Fontainebleau would benefit from gambling, perhaps by becoming a casino.<\/p>\n
\tSoffer is no stranger to gambling. He tried to build the Fontainebleau Las Vegas but that projected failed during the recession.<\/p>\n
\tRELATED CONTENT: Jackie, Jeff Soffer sued personally on Las Vegas debt
\n\tConsider this quote that Fontainebleau President Phil Goldfarb gave the New York Times in 2011: \u201cIf casinos are approved for the city of Miami, Miami Beach should have the opportunity to have casino gaming in a luxury resort right on the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Brian Bandell Senior Reporter-South Florida Business Journal The Fontainebleau resort hotel in Miami Beach got a $123 million boost to its loan through refinancing and signed an agreement that foreshadows its plans for legalized gambling. It also appears the ownership…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6711\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}