A private hotel investor from Utah has pushed its recent spending in Anaheim past the $120 million mark, after paying $57.5 million for the 190-room Portofino Inn & Suites.
Provo-based Dynamic City Capital paid about $303,000 per room for the property, which is near the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue, about a half mile from the entrance to Disneyland.
The hotel deal is among tops for the region in the past year, and comes as Anaheim, one of the hardest-hit local markets during the pandemic, strikes a rebound from the past two years with strong signs of investment activity.
The price paid for the Portofino marks a 120% premium over the hotel’s last sale in 2018, after its prior owner defaulted on a $36 million loan.
In that sale, a Maryland affiliate of CW Capital Asset Management bought the property at 1831 S. Harbor Blvd. in a $26 million trustee sale.
Rebound
The Portofino, built in 1978, shuttered in 2020 along with the majority of area hotels, as the pandemic put the brakes on travel demand, but resumed operations last year with the return of Disneyland and consumer confidence bolstering the local travel sector.
Anaheim hotel occupancy is currently in the 60% to 70% range on average, up from about 37% a year ago. Hotel volume in the city has also seen a significant bump, with $881 million in hotel sales over the past year, more than double the $330 million seen the prior year, according to CoStar Group Inc. data.
The sale of the Portofino is among the three priciest in Orange County to date in 2022, CoStar records indicate.
The largest hotel deal to occur in Orange County this year is Irvine Co.’s $143.6 million sale of the Fashion Island Hotel to an affiliate of Eagle Four Partners. The Newport Beach investor paid $487,000 per key for the 295-room hotel, which will reopen in 2023 as the Pendry Newport Beach.
DCC Deals
DCC made its entry into the Orange County market last June when it acquired the Element Anaheim Resort, a new 174-room hotel at 1600 S. Clementine St., which is also a short walk from Disneyland.
The $64.7 million sale worked out to nearly $372,000 per key, marking a price-per-room sales record for Anaheim hotels.
DCC’s recent buy of the Portofino is the third priciest to occur in Anaheim over the past year; the largest sale was its buy of the Element.
The Element deal also represented DCC’s third reported hotel acquisition during the first half of 2021.
It has continued to buy this year.
In February, DCC spent $105.9 million for the 230-room Hyatt Place San Francisco Downtown from Stonebridge Cos. The deal works out to $460,000 per key.
