Sam Nazarian and Larry Levy get-together to bring the best of Hollywood to Miami

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Two of the most talented innovators in the hospitality industry in the United States, Sam Nazarian and Larry Levy are putting their heads together to plan the development of the Redbury South Beach Hotel in Miami, Florida.

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Sam Nazarian/ Getty

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/ By Stanley Green /

The story of the cooperation between Nazarian and Levy began when Chicago-based Levy, owner of  an international chain of restaurants acquired the 69-room Griffin hotel in South Beach, Miami in conjunction with local developer Bob Heyat. Looking for ideas on how to develop a theme for the Griffin, Levy reportedly paid a friendly visit to the SLS Hotel South Beach,  owned and operated by Nazarian’s sbe group. It was there that the pair first made contact and began to establish a dialogue.

This dialogue extended into an invitation for Levy to take an exploratory trip to the West Coast, where most of Nazarian’s enterprises are situated. For Levy the undisputed high point of his trip was a visit to sbe’s Redbury Hotel, on the famous Hollywood and Vine.

So impressed was Levy that he and Nazarian began to discuss the possibility of sbe managing the hotel which at that point in time was be known as the Hotel Lorenzo South Beach. However it wasn’t long before the decision was made, after another visit to the West Coast by Levy  with Bob Heyat, to extend the Redbury brand to Miami Beach.

The factors that obviously encouraged Levy and Heyat to hook up with Nazarian was the outstanding reviews and tremendous commercial success that the Redbury Hollywood has been enjoying since it opened its doors in 2010m with some of the rewards won including “Top 10 Hippest LA Hotels” by USA Today, Travel + Leisure’s “2011 Best New Hotels” list and the prestigious US News and World Report’s “2013 Best Hotel’s in Los Angeles” award.

Now Redbury brand will come to  South Beach. Miami with the hotel due to be begin operation  in the early fall of 2013.

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Larry Levy / Levy Restaurants

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According to press reports, the internal design features of the Redbury South will take all that is best from the Hollywood Branch, while subtly encapsulating the famous art Deco designs of Miami’s South Beach.

After having completed its  total renovation, the Redbury South Beach will re-open offering its guests the choice of 69 rooms and suites, containing all of the technology and luxury that travelers have come to expect in a modern business or tourist hotel.

The partnership means that sbe will handle the day-to-day operation of the hotel, while Levy Restaurants will be in charge of overseeing all of its food and beverage operations including the local landmark Lorenzo restaurant, situated in the hotel lobby.

One of the principal features of the Redbury South Beach will be its 12, 000-square-foot rooftop pool overlooking the Miami skyline as well as a generous event space with food and beverage service.

The Redbury South Beach is conveniently situated adjacent to both of sbe’s other Miami hotel properties, the SLS and the Raleigh, This means that the Redbury’s guests will be able to also enjoy access to both of these hotels amenities, including beach access as well as to their extensive spas.

Larry Levy founded his Levy Restaurants restaurant company in Chicago in 1978, initially specializing in providing vending and food services to major entertainment and sports venues, eventually expanding to over 100 food service locations in more than 40 market sectors throughout the US and Canada, with income approaching the $1 billion mark annually.

 Sam Nazarian was raised in Los Angeles, to a family who left Iran after the revolution in 1979. Sam’s father Younes made his mark in the business world as co-founder of Qualcomm, designers and producers of semiconductor equipment.

Nazarian formed his first business venture in 1998 when he was just 20 years old, in the field of telecommunications, principally acting as distributors for Nextel software. Within one year of founding his company, Platinum Wireless,   Sam moved into the world of real estate establishing 3Wall Development specializing in the development of multi-family housing throughout California.

His next venture was into the hospitality sector, beginning with the opening of a number of nightclubs in and around Los Angeles, as well as partnerships with some of the city’s leading restaurants.

In 2007, sbe made their first entry into the hotel business by acquiring acquired the Sahara Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas since then also investing in a number of other hotel chains, although without his company taking any part in their management.

At the same time, Nazarian has managed to find the time to pursue his interest in the entertainment industry,  acting as executive producer for a number of Hollywood films.

Nazarian currently divides his time between his homes spread across the United States, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Miami.