Mayfair Hotel in Coconut Grove sold for $40 million, nearly double last sale in 2014

The corner in Coconut Grove where the Mayfair Hotel stands, looking like a corner in Barcelona, has been a lasting memory for many immigrants whose first tour of the city took them to the hotel.

The Mayfair sold this week for more than $40 million. That’s nearly double the $27.6 million the former owners paid in 2014.

The Florida Avenue boutique hotel, with 179 suites, is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in South Florida and one of the most romantic, with balconies that offer views of the Grove’s parks and marinas and a high-up pool with views of the rest of the city. But the key part of the Mayfair, which opened in 1985, is its facade, inspired by the Gaudi buildings in Barcelona, and a central patio with Tiffany stained glass windows, sweeping stairs, vines and ponds covered with ceramic tiles.

The hotel was designed by architect and sculptor Kenneth Treister, who was born in New York in 1930 but lived much of his life in Coconut Grove and designed many buildings in Miami as well as the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach. His design of the Mayfair also showed the influence of Maya temples in its illuminated atrium, as well as the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, greatly admired by Treister.

The architect, who now lives in Central Florida, is the author of “Havana Forever,” one of the books that best captures the architecture of the Cuban capital. He fell in love with the city during his first visit as a tourist in 1947.

The sale of the Mayfair Hotel closed June 20. Brookfield Asset Management, based in Canada, bought it from TriGate Capital and Copperline Partners, which paid $27.6 million for the building in 2014, according to the real estate Web site The Real Deal. The hotel includes Jurlique, a 4,500-square-foot spa; the Mayfair Kitchen restaurant; a gym and conference rooms. It is part of the Mayfair commercial center, also designed by Treister, and is near CocoWalk, the shopping mall that has anchored the neighborhood since the 1990s and is currently under renovation.

Another of the Coconut Grove buildings designed by Treister, The Office at 2699 South Bayshore Drive, was in danger of being demolished in 2017 but a preservation campaign saved it. The building still stands, amid an area of dense construction.

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 11:48 AM.