Miami Beach Hotel That Hosted the Beatles Is Demolished
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MIAMI, Florida — It was here, in Miami Beach at the end of the 1960s, where the Beatles filmed their final music videos, and the hotel where they stayed when they came for a visit just days before they left to go across the Atlantic to New York City.
Now it’s gone.
The massive beachfront hotel and its iconic towers were once home to the Beatles. Now, a $30 million renovation and a three-million dollar addition demolished the landmark.
Hotel officials say the hotel was more difficult to renovate than originally estimated. An additional $100 million is needed to complete the construction project, which will be completed around 2020.
This is not the first time the Beach Hotel has been put to the wrecking ball. In 2013, it was razed and demolished after it was damaged by Hurricane Wilma. The final cost was $18.5 million.
This has been a time of upheaval and changes in Miami. Hotel rates have skyrocketed since the real estate crash, and with it, the cost of renovating and maintaining the hotels.
“You can not have that much investment in your own hotel, and then you can’t afford it,” says hotel consultant Bill Shuffitt, who had worked at the hotel for years. “It’s a whole lot of money. But you are not going to get that kind of interest from investors.”
He says investors have been hesitant to buy into hotels, because they often wait too long to buy, making it hard to get their money back. “So, that is the biggest thing that is hurting our industry right now,” Shuffitt says.
The Miami Beach Hotel and the hotel complex that includes the iconic