While plans for a hotel connected to the Miami Beach Convention Center have been on the drawing board for nearly 10 years, it appears that one last financial hurdle has been cleared so that the hotel can begin construction in mid-2025 and be open by Q3 2027.
In late October, Miami-Dade County Commissioners approved a measure allowing the county to incur up to $92.5 million in debt to complete the funding package needed for the $600 million project. The 17-story Grand Hyatt Miami Beach (rendering below) would go up on 17th Street and Convention Center Drive, featuring a climate-controlled skybridge connected directly to the convention center. 
The 800-room property would also have 90,000 square feet of indoor meeting space of its own, plus 10,000 square feet of outdoor event space, five food and beverage outlets, a resort-style pool and deck with panoramic views, a fitness center, ground-floor retail shops, and 320 parking spaces.
An adjacent hotel is critical to the success of the convention center, noted Miami-Dade County commissioners at a recent meeting. In 2018, Miami Beach C.C. completed a $640 million renovation of its grand ballroom, four junior ballrooms, 84 breakout rooms, 500,000 square feet of exhibition space, outdoor terraces, and adjacent parks. Other improvements were made for the facility to become a LEED Silver-certified green building.
Right now, the business-focused hotel nearest to the center is the 790-room Loews Miami Beach, four blocks away.
According to an article at MiamiTodayNews.com, Commission Chairman Oliver G. Gilbert III said that “the business of tourism is one of the things we have to continuously invest in. It does not make sense for us not to have … a hotel attached to the convention center.”
The county’s $92.5 million grant provides a “gap fund to finally get the hotel under construction,” added Commissioner Eileen Higgins. “There’s zero reason they can’t be under construction in nine months. ... Over a 30-year period, the hotel will deliver about $300 million in food and beverage tax” revenue.
