The Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point has traded hands in the largest-ever hotel sale in Orange County, sources have told the Business Journal.
A sale price for the 400-room property wasn’t immediately available, but sources familiar with the deal say the resort sold for just shy of $500 million, or $1.25 million per key.
Ohana Real Estate Investors LLC, an investment group once funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is said to be the buyer of the resort, formerly known as the St. Regis Monarch Beach.
The Monarch buy marks a return to Orange County for the Redwood City-based investor, which previously owned the Montage Laguna Beach between 2009 and 2015.
Return for Ohana, Four Seasons
The sale of the 800,000-square-foot property includes a private beach club and the Monarch Beach Golf Links.
The seller, KSL Resorts, will still manage the hotel.
Before Ohana emerged as the new owner, KSL was said to be in discussions with management companies to rebrand the property, with several industry sources pointing to the Four Seasons as a potential new flag.
This would make it the first Four Seasons hotel in the county since 2005, when Irvine Co., which owned the property, took management of what is now the Fashion Island Hotel.
However, sources close to the deal say no new branding deal has been made, and KSL will continue to run the property for the time being.
Eastdil Secured’s Santa Monica office represented KSL, which paid $316.9 million in 2014 for the property.
Goldman Sachs is said to have provided financing for the buyer.
Record Deal
A sale has been expected for some time; KSL first put the property on the market last summer with a price tag of $500 million.
After offers came in the range of $450 million, KSL took the property off the market and instead refinanced and renovated the resort’s Monarch Bay Club, revamping the space and naming it the Monarch Bay Beach Club.
It seems to have paid off: the ÂÂdeal is the largest of its kind in Orange County. The previous record was set in 2015 with the $360 million sale of Montage Laguna Beach.
Monarch Beach has 90,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space and eight food and beverage venues, including Bourbon Steak, a Michael Mina restaurant.
The property previously underwent a $40 million renovation in 2016.