A piece of Playboy history is for sale in Miami Beach. It can be yours for $8M

You can now own a piece of Playboy history in Miami Beach. It’ll set you back about $8 million.

Forget condos or even branded residences. The former Playboy Theater at 5445 Collins Ave. is for sale.

It was once part of the Playboy Plaza Hotel, now the Castle Beach Club.

The venue was a popular spot for live entertainment in the region in the 1970s and even beyond. The video of Gloria Estefan’s 2011 hit “Hotel Nacional” was shot there.

The Playboy Theater, inside the Castle, boasts about 26,000 square feet across three levels. Most of the theater infrastructure remains, including strip lights.

“It’s a unique space,” Jordan Gimelstein, co-founder of Miami Beach-based broker Inhouse Commercial, said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “In Miami in general, there aren’t a lot of live theaters.”

Gimelstein and partner Jared Robins, Inhouse’s other co-founder, represent the owner, New York-based Top Rock Holdings, who has held the property since 2021.

The theater, which can hold between 800 and 1,200 people, is dark and dusty but remains intact and in good shape. But before the spotlights shine again on the Playboy Plaza’s old theater, the place will need a thorough cleaning.

Cobwebs and no seats are signs of lack of use in recent years. But the stage is still graced by a grand, purple velvet curtain. A large chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

MORE: Playboy bunnies were at the center of club life in Miami. Then they hit some problems

Playboy is coming back to South Florida

The sale listing comes as Playboy Enterprises said in August it would move its headquarters from Los Angeles into the penthouse of a new luxury office building in Miami Beach called Rivani, at 1691 Michigan Ave., near Lincoln Road.

But that move doesn’t seem to be related to the theater or former Playboy Plaza hotel.

Gimelstein said despite his firm making overtures to Playboy, they haven’t heard back. “I think they’re more in the licensing business these days.”

Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy, confirmed that although he was coming to the Miami area, he was going in a different direction. Asked by the Herald if Playboy was looking to buy the theater, he replied “no interest” in an email on Nov. 23.

Playboy licensing remains a big business. The Playboy brand accounts for $3 billion in annual consumer spending across the world — that’s a lot of bunny logos on shot glasses, keychains and clothing.

Since initial reports of Playboy’s move, the company has provided a copy of its new Miami Beach lease. In a filing in August with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, it showed it had signed a lease for 11 years on Aug. 11, 2025. In the first year, Playboy will pay about $2.1 million in rent. But it added that it could terminate its lease and walk if the Miami Beach City Commission does not give the corporation $200,000 per year for four years as part of the Job Creation Incentive Program.

Playmates in the 305

Playboy once had a large presence in the region.

The Playboy Club, with its bunny barmaids, opened in 1961 at 77th Street and Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. The site, across the street from an adult theater, is now an auto supply shop. The club moved to an inn near the airport, but didn’t last there long.

In 1970, the company invested millions to open the Playboy Plaza in Miami Beach, creating a signature hotel from a former Hilton. A newspaper described it then: “The Playboy Plaza boasts 468 luxurious guest rooms plus an exciting selection of showroom lounges, restaurant and intimate bars staffed by beautiful bunnies.”

The fun times didn’t last long. In 1974, Miami Beach hotelier Harold Konover bought the Playboy Plaza Hotel and renamed it the Konover. In 1987, months before he died, Konover sold it to New York developer Abraham Hirschfeld, who renamed it the Castle Premier. He preserved the Playboy Theater but renamed it the Hirschfeld Theater, for Broadway caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The venue hosted productions of Phantom of the Opera, Evita and 42nd Street and was a hit.

The entire building later became the Castle Hotel. In 2021 New York City-based Top Rock Holding, a real estate firm, acquired the theater, and has held it since.

The Playboy Theater is just one of the venues in the building, which has individually owned condo units. Whoever buys the theater will have access to Castle Beach Club amenities, including the main lobby entrance and direct beach access. There’s also a pool and fitness center. Gimelstein said they may also be given priority to buy individual condos

Interested buyers?

Who might potentially be interested or be a good fit for a theater in a condo-hotel?

Gimelstein suggests a group like Cirque du Soleil, or other circus groups, which need to stay in one place for an extended time.

He also thinks it’s a good setting for a museum, “something a little more eccentric.”

Robins suggested during a recent visit that theater groups could be a perfect fit, as could fashion designers looking for a place to present shows.

Perhaps a co-working space could go there. Or a media company looking for an office, one that is looking to do more live events, he said.

The brokers also cited Queen Restaurant & Lounge, which restored the Paris Theater in Miami Beach, at 550 Washington Ave., as a possible model.

“A dinner and a show concept would be great,” Gimelstein said.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for someone to come in and take over.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2025 at 4:47 AM.