The Grand Hyatt Miami Beach reached full height in July, putting the 800-room hotel on track to open in late 2027 next to the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Developers Terra, led by CEO David Martin, and Turnberry, led by Chairman and CEO Jackie Soffer, celebrated the topping-off milestone at a July 28 ceremony at the city-owned site at 17th Street and Convention Center Drive. The 17-story hotel will connect directly to the convention center through a climate-controlled skybridge.

The project took years to reach this point.

"The addition of a hotel of this size and its connection to the convention center has opened the door for literally dozens of major conventions and trade shows that have never convened here to now show an interest and a desire. That in itself is transformative," David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in the city's press release.

Miami Beach voters approved the developers' long-term lease for the city-owned site in November 2018, but the pandemic delayed progress. Martin told The Real Deal the pandemic caused a "little hiatus" of a few years after approvals were secured. Permitting alone took about a year and a half, and construction did not begin until spring 2025.

General contractor Balfour Beatty won the building contract in 2023. Construction Dive reported the contract was valued at about $385 million. The developers also secured a $392 million construction loan from Tyko Capital, a lender affiliated with billionaire Paul Singer's Elliott Investment Management.

Miami-Dade County approved $75 million for the project in 2024, according to The Real Deal.

The hotel, designed by Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica, will include 12 floors of guest rooms, 50 suites and 110,000 square feet of meeting space. A fifth-floor rooftop amenity deck will feature an 8,000-square-foot Grand Lawn, two pools and 17,000 square feet of retail, according to the city's press release.

Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner called the hotel a game changer for the city in the press release, saying it would attract top conventions and strengthen long-term growth.

The project complements a $640 million renovation of the convention center, completed in 2020, that modernized 500,000 square feet of exhibit space and added a 60,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom. Art Basel Miami Beach, eMerge Americas and Design Miami are among the major events held there each year.

No specific opening date beyond late 2027 has been announced.