Sam Nazarian, the Los Angeles hospitality entrepreneur who played himself on HBO’s “Entourage,” plans to renovate the Ritz Plaza Hotel in Miami Beach as he shops New York for property and reworks debt on a Las Vegas casino.
Nazarian, 35, expects to spend $65 million in cash improving the Florida property and may strike a deal for his SLS Hotel brand in New York City within a year as the travel industry rebounds. He’s also looking for locations in London, Chicago and Washington, he said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Los Angeles offices.
As chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based SBE, Nazarian reworked debt on the company’s SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills and is negotiating on the 1,700-room Sahara Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The recession cut travel in 2009, with high-end hotels hit hardest in the U.S. Their revenue per available room fell 24 percent, according to Smith Travel Research Inc.
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