When he’s at his South Beach home, David Edelstein loves to lounge outdoors, under some trees in a garden decorated as if it were in Provence. But this sunny day he was hanging out by the 120-foot long swimming pool, fringed with white umbrellas and palm trees. “There’s Jamie now,” he said, as actor Jamie Foxx strolled over.
The two chatted, paying no notice to the several hundred people around them, many gawking at the pair.
Mr. Edelstein, 56, isn’t just the developer behind W South Beach, the 408-unit hotel/condo here, he’s also a resident—he said it’s the first time he’s lived in one of his developments. Slight, deeply tan, his crisp John Varvatos shirts unbuttoned a tad more than the average businessman’s, Mr. Edelstein is the W’s unofficial ambassador, treating the public areas of the hotel as if they’re his own. Coming here several times a month from his new $12.9 million New York townhouse, where he lives with his wife and kids, he regularly eats at the hotel’s restaurants and enjoys greeting guests as they pass by.