Orange County Register
04/29/16

Irvine-based Hotel Company Breaks Ground in Napa
By Hannah Madans
04/29/16

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hotel-714115-group-resort.html
Irvine-based Pacific Hospitality Group broke ground on a hotel in Napa on Friday.

Meritage Commons will be a four-story, 145-room resort, including 39 suites, an outdoor pool and a food and wine village.

The hotel will be across the street from PHG’s The Meritage Resort and Spa, which opened in 2006.

Pacific Hospitality group bought nine acres for the new development four years ago.

Earlier this year the group purchased the oceanfront Ko’a Kea Hotel & Resort on Kauai. The property was named the most prestigious resort in Hawaii in Conde Nast Traveler’s “Top 25 Resorts in Hawaii: Readers’ Choice Awards 2015.”

Terms of the Ko’a Kea deal were not disclosed.

The 121-room hotel includes nine suites, a fitness center, spa, pool and 11,170 square feet of meeting space. The hotel’s restaurant, Red Salt, serves seafood and locally sourced produce.

An affiliate of Pacific Hospitality Group in September bought a hotel in the iconic French Quarter of New Orleans.

The affiliate, Cotton Exchange Investment Properties, bought AC Hotel New Orleans Bourbon/French Quarter from an affiliate of Dallas-based NewcrestImage for an undisclosed price.

Pacific Hospitality Group owns and operates 10 hotels. PHG’s portfolio includes Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach and the Pasea Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach, which will open soon.

In 2015, approximately $1.4 billion was spent on hotel purchases in Orange County, according to Irvine-based real estate company Atlas Hospitality Group. Eight hotels were under construction while four opened, according to the firm.

Industry analysts predict the industry will continue growing in 2016 but at a much slower pace.