Sculptor Diversified Real Estate Income Trust is set to purchase the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort and its two Naples golf courses for $835 million, according to a March 25 report. The transaction, which is expected to close by May 1, would be the largest hotel sale in Florida this year and among the biggest trades in Southwest Florida.
The acquisition includes the 809-room luxury resort located on more than ten acres at 400 South Collier Boulevard, as well as the Hammock Bay and Rookery golf courses. Sculptor Diversified, based in New York and led by Steven Orbuch, is buying the property from Barings. Barings is an asset management firm with $481 billion under management and has owned the hotel since 2017.
JLL marketed the site on behalf of Barings. Marriott International operates the resort and will continue managing it under the JW Marriott brand after completion of the sale.
The hotel originally opened in 1965 as Marco Beach Hotel with just fifty rooms before undergoing several expansions and renovations over decades. In its early years, it was part of Marco Island’s development as a master-planned community by Mackle Brothers. The property was sold to Marriott in 1979 following legal challenges related to residential plans by Deltona Corporation.
Barings invested approximately $320 million into renovating and repositioning the resort in 2019, elevating it from a high-end Marriott property to one under Marriott’s luxury JW brand. In addition to this pending sale, Barings remains active elsewhere in South Florida through a partnership with 13th Floor Investments on Cadence—a mixed-income apartment tower project currently underway in Miami.
