DANA POINT, CA—Denver-based private-equity firm KSL Capital Partners LLC has purchased the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort here for an undisclosed amount from an affiliate of Washington Holdings. The resort will continue to be managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts as part of the St. Regis brand.
The property is a Forbes Five-Star, AAA Five-Diamond destination resort located along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. It features 400 rooms and suites across 169 acres, three swimming pools, the championship Monarch Beach Golf Links and the Spa Gaucin. The resort also contains six ocean-view restaurants including the Stonehill Tavern featuring Chef Michael Mina.
According to Bernard Siegel, principal of KSL, “The St. Regis Monarch Beach is one of a handful of properties that has it all—luxurious accommodations and world-class amenities, in an irreplaceable location steps from the Pacific Ocean, an easy drive from Southern California or flight via three major airports located nearby. Despite all that the resort has to offer, we are planning to bring it to an even higher level.”
KSL tells GlobeSt.com that it has certain planned improvements for the resort, but is still evaluating them. The firm also declined to reveal the sale price. However, sources unrelated to the deal say that Washington Real Estate Holdings took possession of the property from Citigroup (whose broker was Eastdil Secured) in April 2010 as a mezzanine takeover. The price paid for the 400-unit five-story building was $240 million, or $600,000 per unit. WREH assumed the mortgage, and a loan for the acquisition was made by Prudential Real Estate Investors for $165 million.
Out-of-town owners have been in the market for Southern California hotels lately. As GlobeSt.com reported earlier this week, Phoenix-based Classic Hotels & Resorts has acquired the Laguna Cliffs Inn, a 36-room boutique hotel in Laguna Beach, from what GlobeSt.com has learned is Invest West Financial Corp., a Santa Barbara-based real estate and private-equity investment firm. The property, which sold for $11.2 million, according to Classic, is the newest addition to the buyer's California Coastal Collection, which currently includes the Inn at Laguna Beach—a 70-room luxury boutique hotel adjacent to the Laguna Cliffs Inn—and La Playa Carmel in Carmel, CA.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
