In the high-stakes world of real estate development where hard-nosed power-players dominate the landscape, what possible asset could 22-year old Nicky Hilton bring to the table to allow her to succeed? Glamour, that's what. And that single factor may very well bring a major change to Miami's Ocean Drive when Nicky Hilton opens her first high-end boutique hotel, "Nicky O South Beach" later this year. For some, that change is long overdue.

''I want to bring a fashion element to the hotel, because that's what I do,'' Hilton said while discussing plans for her 94-room, all-suite condo hotel in the heart of Ocean Drive where prices are expected to range from $500,000 to $7 million.

As Nicky's partner Robert Falor describes it, "People want to be part of Hollywood and feel like they're in the 'in' crowd...Nicky brings that." Falor's company owns several high-profile properties in Miami Beach including the Breakwater, Edison and Tides hotels on Ocean Drive and the Royal Palm hotel on Collins Avenue.

Falor's stable of properties left Nicky with several choices for her first hotel. She was originally drawn to the Royal Palm, but Falor had already partnered with nightlife entrepreneur Rande Gerber for a Maxim Lounge there. The lounge was to be designed by Charles Infante, famous for his set designs on music videos for stars like Gwen Stefani and JLo.

Artist's concept of Nicky O Hotel

Roberto Cavalli

Basildon Room at the Waldorf Astoria

As for the type of guest she expects her hotel to cater to, "I think it's definitely going to bring a trendy, fashionable person who's coming into town to have fun.''

Nicky will design the hotel's interior spaces including the lobby, and she has enlisted famed designer Roberto Cavalli to create a luxurious 5,000 square foot penthouse suite. Rumors are that several other high profile designers have also signed-on to create signature suites in the hotel and are soon to be announced.

Nicky O will be Cavalli’s first foray into hotel couture, however, it's not his first collaboration with a resort. Cavalli redesign the famous Playboy Bunny costume for the Palms Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, the first redesign of the costume in more than a quarter century.

While the importance of this South Beach project could easily be dismissed as yet another flash & glam production destined for the archives, a bit of perspective on South Beach indicates this may well be a turning point for the future of Ocean Drive.

"Boheimian" is the word often used to describe South Beach during it's early-1990's transition from a wasteland of run-down hotels to its current incarnation as a high-dollar party-playground for its genetically blessed socialites.

Yet, early-on during its renaissance, South Beach—and in particular, Ocean Drive—was a terminally glamorous place. It was rough, exciting and very often dangerous to your health (in more ways than one), yet always, eternally glamorous.

Beginning in 1985 with Bruce Weber's photo shoot for Calvin Klein on the roof of the Breakwater Hotel which first introduced the fashion world to South Beach's beautifully dilapidated pastel backdrops, and spurred on by a 1986 91-page feature in Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, the cream of the creative world all came to South Beach. It was a place of sun and sex with no adult supervision in sight.

But, toward the end of the decade Ocean Drive began slipping into a kind of touristy limbo where middle America came to gawk at the steps where Gianni Versace fell.

Yet, recent rumblings indicate a new vibe coming to Ocean Drive. First on the scene was the beautiful Hotel Victor with its growing nightlife scene, and now Nicky Hilton's Nicky O South Beach. Remember that glamour-thing we mentioned...?

With that project already in the works at the Royal Palm, Nicky decided on the Breakwater/Edison complex, a location that offers far greater visibility.

Nicky's Miami Beach hotel will consist of the Breakwater and Edison hotels combined with the pool area that lies between the two properties which will also function as the Nicky O Bar & Lounge. This pool area is sure to attract jet-set nightlife crowds in much the same way as the Raleigh and Delano pool decks have.

It's impossible to overstate how centrally located these two hotels are to the action on Ocean Drive, as well as how heavily valued they are by the City of Miami Beach for their historical significance. Both hotels are part of the Art Deco District and changes to buildings within this protected area are an ordeal at best.

Design details for the project are scarce, but Nicky's childhood experiences may offer a hint of things to come. She spent her early years growing up in the Towers of New York's Waldorf-Astoria, one of the finest examples of elegance and historic charm to be found anywhere in the world.

The Waldorf's environment which offered the highest standards in comfort and good taste, appears to have left a lasting impression on Nicky, who now says she wants her hotel to approach those lofty levels of style. (While no specifics have been released, our money is on the Waldorf's Basildon Room as a design model.)

In addition to designer suites, Nicky O South Beach will offer...

Success in a town such as South Beach, where the prevailing populuxe culture demands constant stimulation, is often a fleeting experience. But Nicky Hilton may very well crack the code and succeed in returning a bit of style and glamour to South Beach's Ocean Drive.

It can't happen soon enough for us.