The San Diego Union-Tribune
11/28/18

Carlsbad’s Park Hyatt Aviara Sells for $170 Million More Than a Year After Being Taken Over by Its Lender
By Lori Weisberg

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/tourism/sd-fi-hyatt-aviara-sold-20181128-story.html

The upscale Park Hyatt Aviara resort, which was taken over by its lender more than a year ago following missed payments, is now under new ownership…

…Xenia’s purchase makes the Park Hyatt the third largest hotel sale so far this year, behind the $250 million paid for the 805-room San Jose Fairmont in January and the 668-room Grand Hyatt San Francisco, which fetched more than $575 million in March.

Although it’s been almost 1 ½ years since the Park Hyatt was taken over by its lender, CW Capital Asset Management, a sale probably took longer because the property includes a golf course, speculates broker Alan Reay.

Increasingly, more and more golf courses are closing, and in California they can be expensive to operate given the dry conditions and the cost of water, said Reay, CEO of Atlas Hospitality.

“Most properties in San Diego are back at the peak levels of 2007 or above so it’s interesting that this property did not get back to that level, and one of the main reasons for that is the golf course,” he said. “Whenever we’re working on a hotel with a golf course associated with it, most buyers are not interested. It’s not what it used to be.”

Last year’s transfer to CW Capital came after years of missed payments and a five-year loan extension and lowered interest rate that was granted in 2011.

The per room price paid by Xenia works out to about $517,000, which is significantly lower than the $600,000, $700,000 per room price that upscale hotels have been commanding, Reay noted.

“I think they’ll definitely get room rates up if they make improvements, but the big question is what do you do with the golf course,” Reay said. “In many instances, we’re seeing golf courses sold off and then people do residential or a different development on that.”

The Park Hyatt was not always a Hyatt-managed property. In 2009, the resort was at the center of a very public feud when Broadreach sought to oust the hotel’s longtime operator, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts…