Apr. 16, 2004 - The Chicago company converting Islamorada's Cheeca Lodge into a condominium resort has a similar plan for Coconut Grove's Mayfair House hotel, executives familiar with the deal said Thursday.

Falor Cos. has a contract to buy the Mayfair and would sell its 179 rooms to investors, who could stay in their units or try and rent them to guests. The hotel-condo arrangement is popular with South Florida developers as a way to raise upfront cash for a hotel project.

The plan by Falor Cos. would pump $6.5 million into the downtown hotel that became a favorite resting spot during Miami's cocaine-cowboy era in the 1980s. Two decades later, the Mayfair has been overshadowed by South Beach's status as a tourist magnet and a string of luxury hotel openings throughout the Miami area.

"I wouldn't say it's been successful. I wouldn't say it's been unsuccessful," said hotel broker Guy Trusty, president of Lodging & Hospitality Realty. "It hasn't found its niche." In fact, it lost its niche. And what a niche it was.

Mayfair guests once had a limousine at their disposal, and Tiffany glass decorated the private club upstairs, where a year's dues cost $25,000. There is still a hot tub in every room.

The flashy decadence matched the clientele; a history posted on the Mayfair website describes the hotel 'as a favorite of certain South American 'businessmen' during the latter half of the 1980s." Later, the history continued, famous guests replaced infamous guests, as athletes and the occasional movie star checked in at the downstairs lobby on the corner of Virginia Street and Florida Avenue.

Falor executives could not be reached Thursday to discuss their plans. The company and Johnson Resort Properties bought the Cheeca Lodge & Spa last year and are in the midst of selling half of the 202 rooms there as hotel-condo units.

Commercial broker CB Richard Ellis announced the Mayfair deal in a news release Thursday, and Mayfair owner Lodgian Inc. confirmed that a contract has been signed. The sale is scheduled to close May 5, Vice President Debi Ethridge said.

Neither side has disclosed the sales price. Lodgian, the Atlanta-based hotel operator, emerged from bankruptcy last May. It must pay Lehman Brothers at least $13 million for the Mayfair to satisfy a loan on the property, according to regulatory filings.

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