New $45 Million Investment for a Planned Stanly Ranch Resort in South Napa
New $45 Million Investment for a Planned Stanly Ranch Resort in South Napa
Napa Valley Register
08/20/18
New $45 Million Investment for a Planned Stanly Ranch Resort in South Napa
By Jennifer Huffman
The stalled 150-room Stanly Ranch resort project has a new investor that recently contributed $45 million to the long-promised development, suggesting that construction is on the horizon.
A deed recording a $45 million transaction at the south Napa parcel was filed on June 29 in the Napa County Recorder office. The project ownership, formerly called Stanly Ranch Resort Napa LLC. is now known as SRGA LP, according to the deed.
The investment “is a positive thing for the project,” said Chris Crosby, a project manager for the resort, which is located on Stanly Cross Road just south of the Highway 12/29/121 intersection.
Crosby wouldn’t comment further on the new investor, but he said the project is going forward.
In fact, on June 27, Crosby and new partners met with city of Napa planning department staffers, said city planning manager Mike Allen.
“I believe the investors wanted assurance that the city still considered the entitlements active before they invested,” said Allen.
The city first approved plans for the resort and a related housing development in 2010, with detailed plans for the 150-room resort receiving City Council endorsement in 2016.
“We assured them the entitlements are still active since the approved Stanly Ranch Resort Master Plan does not have an expiration date,” Allen said.
According to Allen, “They indicated they would be submitting new building permits soon.”
The recorded $45 million investment, called a recapitalization, “is definitely good news,” said hotel industry expert Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group.
The new partner is likely either someone who perhaps has development experience and has the ability to get the project built or a silent investor who wants to be involved in Napa Valley hospitality, said Reay.
Regardless, this influx of funds means action, he said. The project “is not going to sit dormant, that’s for sure. That money has come in to move the development forward,” said Reay.
In 2016, the Napa Planning Commission approved a 150-room hotel at the site.
At that time, the Stanly Ranch development was estimated to cost $250 million to $275 million. City officials have estimated the resort will generate $4.4 million in tax revenue in its first year, including property and hotel room taxes.
The currently approved project includes the hotel and 25 shared ownership homes that people occupy at different times of the year, 70 fully owned homes and a 40,000-square-foot winery.
The developers had originally agreed to pay $1.4 million into a city fund for development of affordable housing. After being sued by Latinos Unidos del Valle de Napa y Solano, a housing advocacy group, the builders agreed to pay an additional $3 million.
The Stanly Ranch hotel, covering 93 acres, will spread its rooms across dozens of small, one-story structures made from metal, wood and stone in an effort to create a peaceful, farm-like atmosphere.
A core of six larger buildings will hold a restaurant, cafe, spa, banquet hall and conference center, and cycling and pedestrian trails would crisscross the resort grounds and line Stanly Ranch’s north and west sides.
The whole ownership units, fractional units, and a winery still require a final design review approval, said Allen.
No significant changes have been made to the project, said Allen.
“Any significant changes would require planning commission and city council approval,” noted Allen.
Members of Stanly Ranch Resort Napa LLC included Randy Nichols, Chris Crosby and Jeff Selby.
