The chief executive of San Clemente-based Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. has stepped down after two years of turning hotels over to lenders and acquiring others.
Art Buser, who joined as Sunstone’s president in 2008 and became chief executive in early 2009, stepped down.
He’s being replaced by current executives and directors who are expanding their roles.
Ken Cruse, who has served as chief financial officer, becomes president and is in line to become chief executive.
Cruse will run the company alongside founder and Executive Chairman Bob Alter, who’ll have “greater involvement in the execution of the company’s business plan,” according to Sunstone.
Alter started Sunstone in 1995 and served as chief executive until 2007.
Lew Wolff, co-chairman of Sunstone’s board, also is set to expand his role.
Sunstone owns 31 hotels across the country, including the Fairmont Newport Beach.
Buser oversaw a dramatic time for Sunstone in which the company turned over several hotels to lenders after they became worth less than what was owed on them.
In 2009, Sunstone became the first publicly traded hotel owner in the downturn to hand back keys to a lender with the W Hotel in San Diego.
This year, Sunstone relinquished eight other hotels to lender Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Sunstone parlayed the handover of the W and others into a larger strategy of shedding unwanted hotels as it acquired others.
In August, Sunstone acquired the Royal Palm hotel in Miami Beach. In July, Sunstone reacquired the Renaissance Westchester Hotel in upstate New York after it had stopped making debt payments on in 2009.
The company plans more acquisitions.
Before Sunstone, Buser worked in various roles at Chicago’s Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s hotel unit. During the peak of hotel deals, Buser oversaw $4.5 billion worth at Jones Lang LaSalle.
One analyst lowered his rating for Sunstone based on Buser’s departure.
R.W. Baird analyst David Loeb said in a note to clients that investors need to assess Sunstone’s reworked management team.
He cut Sunstone’s rating to “neutral” from “outperform.”
