Nov. 4--An announcement could come as early as today concerning new ownership for the Pittsburgh Hilton Hotel, officials said.

The 50-year-old facility, which has experienced financial troubles almost since its acquisition 3 1/2 years ago by Shubh Hotels LLC, will have a trio of owners who have deep financial pockets.

Architect Steve Berry, whose drew the plans for a $25 million Hilton renovation-expansion project that remains unfinished nearly three years after it was started, said he met Tuesday with executives of The Related Group of Miami.

"We went over my plans at the hotel briefly, and we talked about completing the project," Berry said. "They said they'd like to close on the deal within 10 to 15 days." Berry is owed more than $399,000 by Shubh.

The Related Group was co-founded by Steve Ross, majority owner of the Miami Dolphins football team, and Jorge Perez, one of the country's richest Hispanics. They along with Kiran Patel, a South Florida cardiologist-philanthropist, will be the acquirers, officials said.

The trio is expected to formally announce as early as today the takeover the beleaguered Downtown property, purchasing it for an undisclosed price from Shubh. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company acquired the hotel for $28 million from the Hilton Corp. in May 2006.

Shubh representatives couldn't be reached to comment. During the past 18 months, numerous contractors, along with union welfare and retirement funds have filed liens and lawsuits against the Hilton for unpaid bills totaling more than $1 million, Shubh and Shubh CEO Atul Bisaria.

Expecting a sale announcement, a staff person for the union representing about 180 Hilton workers said they look forward to new ownership.

"The members of Unite Here Local 57 at the Hilton are looking forward to working with the new ownership group and continuing its 50-plus-year tradition as a unionized workplace," said Jennifer Blatz, staff representative for Local 57.

The purchasing partners include:

--Perez, CEO of The Related Group, one of the country's largest condominium builder-developers, with a portfolio estimated to be worth more than $10 billion, according to the Miami Herald.

Hispanic Magazine ranked The Related Group this year as the nation's fifth-largest Hispanic-owned business, with 2008 revenue of $1.1 billion. Among Perez's development partners in South Florida is Donald Trump, according to The Related Group's Web site.

--Ross is head of The Related Group's New York operations, according to the Web site, and majority owner of the National Football League's Dolphins. Ross was ranked 110th on this year's Forbe's magazine list of the country's 400 richest people, with a net worth of $2.9 billion.

--Patel is a Tampa-based cardiologist turned philanthropist-businessman, who in 2002, sold the Health Maintenance Organization WellCare to a group including billionaire George Soros for $200 million, according to FloridaTrend.com. Patel today owns a number of health care-related businesses.

Rick Stouffer can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7853.

-----

To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.