Several improvement projects are in the works at Balboa Bay Resort and its members-only sister property now known as Balboa Bay Club.
Changes also are in store for other properties under the banner of International Bay Clubs LLC, which became a co-owner of the two waterfront properties and the Newport Beach Country Club in a 2012 deal.
The deal put the properties in the portfolio of Irvine-based private equity firm Eagle Four Partners LLC as a co-owner. Pacific Hospitality Group LLC, led by Tim Busch and also based in Irvine, co-manages the Balboa Bay Resort, Balboa Bay Club and Newport Beach Country Club with International Bay Clubs and Eagle Four.
The management team has since made strides to help locals better understand offerings that are open to the public—and the projects in the works are intended to further those efforts.
“If you looked at the community and potential customers, there was a real confusion about what was there,” said Kevin Martin, president of International Bay Clubs and Eagle Four principal. “The No. 1 thing on our business plan was to separate the businesses there and clarify to our customers that there’s a resort and great club. There’s this marina and beautiful apartments.”
The two properties were previously known together as the Balboa Bay Club & Resort.
The owners separated them with a renaming that took place last year when the Balboa Bay Club got its own brand alongside the 159-room Balboa Bay Resort, which is open to the public. There’s also the 145-unit Balboa Bay Residences apartment building, with occupancy at about 90%, and the Balboa Bay Marina.
“We’ve really tried to separate the businesses and created identities for each of them,” Martin said.
Remodeling work will be done in phases to cause as little disruption as possible.
Blend
The resort recently opened a Blend coffee shop in the lobby. That will be followed by updates to its First Cabin Restaurant, which is slated to change over to a seafood concept called Waterline that’s scheduled to be completed by March 1.
The lobby of the resort will be expanded from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet—a project that brings more seating and what Martin called a “pod-system reception area” that removes the large reception desk to create an open layout for guest check-in.
Duke’s Place will be turned into a waterfront bar and grill with indoor and outdoor seating that will add more natural lighting, along with a grill and kitchen that could be completed as early as June.
Common-area and room renovations are slated for late this year, with a completion scheduled in 2015.
Apartments on the property continue to be renovated as new residents come in, while the Balboa Bay Club’s spa will be remodeled, with construction expected to start later this year.
The updates on all the properties are seen as a way to hit on a larger idea for the four businesses there, Martin said.
“The vision is you have somebody who lives at the apartments who can walk downstairs, work out at the gym, have a meal at the members grill. They keep their boat out on the marina, so they can come and go on their boat and then they can do their business at the resort,” he said. “That kind of lifestyle does not exist anywhere.”
The cost of updates to the hotel, club, apartments and marina are expected to total $25 million, not including a new clubhouse planned for the Newport Beach Country Club, which the ownership team hopes to break ground on later this year. It could reopen as early as 2016 and has the potential to grow the country club’s events business with a banquet room that could accommodate as many as 300 guests, versus the current 150.
Martin pointed out that the property currently functions as a golf club, but lacks country club amenities. The owners conducted research and found people wanted a pool, outdoor dining area, gym and locker rooms—all updates that are in the design plans.
“If you take the [Balboa Bay] Club, the golf club and the resort, it’s just a lot [of projects]. We’re investing in all of them,” Martin said. “We’re taking them from great historical, important, prestigious properties in Newport Beach to a whole new generation of people and guests and club members and golfers.”
New GM
A new executive joined the effort last week, with the appointment of Sam El-Rabaa as general manager of the resort. He arrives from the 322-room Meritage Resort in Napa, which is managed by Pacific Hospitality Group.
