The seller was Continental Renaissance Partners, a partnership controlled by locally based Dern Greinetz Inc. Buchanan Street Partners, a Newport Beach-based investment bank that also manages assets for institutions and brokers sales, was handed the disposition assignment in June. Larkspur assumed the existing loan on the asset as part of the transaction.

When the property first came to market, Buchanan Street SVP Curtis Davies told GlobeSt.com the hotel could be upgraded to a higher class, converted to a condo-hotel development or converted to straight residential. The "condotel" play may be the most attractive because it would be the first in the city. The property gets around the moratorium on hotel-to-condo conversions by having fewer than 100 rooms.

Larkspur chairman Karl Hoagland could not immediately be reached Monday morning for comment. In a prepared statement, he said the company intends "to renovate and reposition the Monticello to a four star level."

The Monticello Inn was designed using the 18th century home of Thomas Jefferson as its inspiration. The room mix includes 20 two-room "Jefferson Suites," which were renovated in 2004. All rooms offer complimentary wireless Internet access.

The only comparable boutique hotel sale within the past year was the 62-room Griffon Hotel, one of only three hotels located along the Embarcadero. Greystone Hospitality acquired the property for $15.25 million, or $246,000 per key.

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