Putting Up The Ritz

After Four Years, Renovated Di Lido Debuts as South Florida's Latest Ritz-Carlton

by Scott Judy

Ritz-Carlton's restoration of the Morris Lapidus-designed Di Lido Hotel in Miami's South Beach district, now complete, suffered more than its share of bumps and bruises along the way.

The original contractor defaulted from the project that would turn the hotel into a five-star Ritz-Carlton. Lawsuits resulted. And major corrections to existing work had to be completed by the new construction team.

In short, it was about as bad as it could get.

"I've been on this project for four years, and I couldn't wait for it to be finished," said Ralph Eguilior, project manager for Coral Gables-based Nichols, Brosch Sandoval, the principal design firm. "There were times when despair set in."

Coastal-Hoar at South Beach, a joint venture between majority partner Coastal Construction Co. of Miami and Birmingham, Ala.-based Hoar Construction, was able to come in and bring the project to completion in time for an opening scheduled almost 50 years to the date of the original hotel's 1953 debut. But the team also had to overcome some surprises.

Now the various parties are simply happy the facility is finally open - and they're pleased with the results.

"I'm very excited for everyone involved because it turned out beautiful," Eguilior said. "I think it's going to be an outstanding success, and definitely a feather in everyone's cap."

Bruce Lazar, executive vice president with Di Lido Beach Resort Ltd., the project owner, called the hotel "magnificent" and "beautiful," but he added, "It's been much too long a road. The hotel is opening, so I'm very happy."

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Hotel Features

Much of the renovated and restored former Di Lido Hotel, located at Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, was already in place when Coastal-Hoar was brought in to complete the project.

The new resort features 375 rooms; a 16,000-sq.-ft. spa located on the third level; and 20,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including a 10,000-sq.-ft. ballroom capable of seating up to 1,000 guests.

A look that is true to the original design was required. For example, throughout the lobby and public space, a historically accurate color palette authenticates the original design elements. Also, materials similar to those used in the original design have been used, such as terrazzo floors and cherry millwork.

Eguilior said the same basic design elements were used, "but much more tastefully done, and with more modern materials. We're returning an old hotel that was three-star when it opened - and sort of deteriorated from there - to a five-star Ritz-Carlton." (The goal actually was to achieve AAA's "5 Diamond" status - a status that the recently opened Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove, also designed by Nichols, Brosch Sandoval, has attained.)

The historic restoration retains the exterior flavor of the Morris Lapidus design, characterized as Art Moderne or MiMO (for Miami Modern). A three-story addition on top of the existing eight-story hotel, along with the incorporation of other surrounding buildings into the new resort, brings the Ritz-Carlton to approximately 500,000 sq. ft.

Because of its weight, the three-story, rooftop addition required upgrading of the existing hotel's foundation system so it could support the new steel structure itself.

"We had to reinforce (the existing foundation) to support those upper three stories," Eguilior said. "Essentially it's a building eight stories up in the air."

Regarding the exterior work, Eguilior said, "Basically we restored the facades of the existing hotel and the existing office building to their original condition. Then the three-story addition on the top of the Di Lido Hotel was designed to work with the existing architecture of the building, which was in the modern style, and we added a little bit of South Beach modernism with the eyebrows and the cantilevers that are so common to the style of South Beach."

Both the restored existing hotel and new addition have stucco exteriors, in keeping with the South Beach style, though the addition stands apart with its use of glass and metal.

Inside, all of the existing floors were completely gutted, with guest rooms built out to a new layout and Ritz-Carlton standards.

Saving the Day

At one point, project officials may have thought they would never get to a happy ending with this project. The previous contractor, McCann, defaulted from an approximately $55 million contract when the project was at about 70 percent completion.

The three-story addition to the roof of the old Di Lido had already been built, and much of the renovation work had been completed.

The default took place in the first half of 2002, with the original completion date set for late 2002.

Thinking it was strictly a finish-type project, the owner put out a request for proposals. Coastal Construction Co. responded to the RFP, indicating it would joint venture with Hoar Construction. Coastal and Hoar had worked together previously on preconstruction services on numerous hospitality projects, and decided to finally build one together.

Coastal had itself built about 40 hotels in South Florida and therefore was known for its expertise in this sector.

Also counting in Coastal's favor was that Di Lido Beach Resort's Lazar knew Coastal Executive Vice President Thomas Murphy and was aware of the firm's reputation for successfully completing projects.

"We believed that Coastal was probably - of all of the responders - the best finishers," Lazar said. "At the time we thought this was basically a finish-type project. We were wrong, but that's what we thought at the time."

In June 2002, the owner awarded Coastal-Hoar at South Beach the construction management contract to complete the project.

"It was an extremely difficult project," said Eguilior, who worked on the project from the beginning. "They picked up the project at probably 70 percent completion and actually went backwards because we had to repair a lot of the work that was previously done structurally, and then came back and finished the project with a very aggressive schedule."

Dan Whiteman, president of Coastal Construction, said: "Since the project was significantly behind schedule upon the award to Coastal-Hoar, the primary challenge was to overcome the schedule delays, re-energize the subcontractors on the project and complete as quickly as humanly possible.

"The structure addition was completed prior to Coastal-Hoar, but there were challenges in undertaking major structural repairs and renovations to the existing structure after our involvement," he added.

In some instances that included getting the new construction back up to code.

To get the project completed as quickly as possibly, the Coastal-Hoar team employed multiple shifts, with superintendents assigned to each major area of the project working simultaneously to achieve completion of all areas on the same date.

"Due to the need for opening of the hotel for the winter season of 2004, at the peak of construction we have had as many as 10 superintendents onsite managing each of the different areas of the project," Whiteman said.

He estimated that more than 600 workers were onsite at the peak of construction, and by the closing, punch-out phase, there were approximately 300 workers on the job.

The Result

Coastal-Hoar can only be judged by the work it performed, and it appears to have come through on all fronts.

"They were able to take a project that was in difficulty and bring it to fruition," Lazar said. "Tom Murphy has told me this is the most difficult project and complex project that he has ever been involved with."

Eguilior added, "They've done a terrific job."

Even Coastal-Hoar sees the positives of the experience.

"To be involved in this exciting and challenging project has been rewarding for every team member," Whiteman said. Implying the five-star nature of the project, he added, "Even though our project team has worked seven days a week for over one year, we all feel that this is one of the finest projects we have been associated with in our careers."

Project Team:

Owner: Di Lido Beach Resort Ltd., Miami
Architect: Nichols, Brosch Sandoval, Coral Gables
Interior Designer: The Howard Design Group
Construction Manager: Coastal-Hoar at South Beach, a joint venture between majority partner Coastal Construction Corp. of Miami and Hoar Construction Co. of Orlando and Birmingham, Ala.