The 393-room Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel has been put up for sale by Chicago’s Strategic Hotel Capital LLC as part of its plan to sell off its holdings.
The asking price reportedly is in the $1 million per room range, putting it at about $400 million.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is marketing the luxury hotel.
Ritz-Carlton opened in 1984. It was acquired by Strategic in 1997 from Prudential Financial Inc. as part of a five-hotel deal.
When Strategic became a publicly traded real estate investment trust in 2004, it kept seven hotels in a private portfolio, including the Ritz-Carlton.
So far, five of those have been sold. Besides the Ritz, the investment group still privately holds the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.
“Other than the Sutton Place sale, this is definitely one of the first trophy hotels in Orange County to hit the market,” said Alan Reay, president of Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group.
Sutton Place, now Fairmont Newport Beach, sold last year to San Clemente’s Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.
Demand for luxury hotels has been strong in San Diego, Los Angeles and the Bay area, according to Reay.
The Ritz last summer completed a $40 million renovation that included the addition of a full-service spa.
The Ritz brand recently was named the most prestigious luxury brand among 52 elite brands rated by wealthy consumers in the U.S., according to a study by the Luxury Institute in New York.
