Landmark Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel resort sells | Real Estate news

One of Southern California’s premier seaside resorts, the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, has been bought for an estimated $600 million as the top end of the state’s resort market continues to thrive.

The luxurious inn, where rooms start at about $1,300 a night time, was one of Orange County’s first large-scale oceanfront resorts when it opened in 1984 on a bluff overlooking the Pacific in Dana Point.

Its new proprietor is Denver non-public equity firm KSL Capital Partners, which invests in high-end leisure vacation spot properties such as a seventeenth century citadel resort in Scotland, Camelback Resort in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains and the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in South Carolina.

The current sale of the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, was valued at $600 million by resort industry analyst and broker Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality, based on current value determinations and comparable gross sales of other resorts.

“Trophy properties in irreplaceable locations still command a premium in today’s market,” Reay said. “The properties that are doing the best are in the higher-end luxury division. People that have money are still traveling and are willing to pay the prices that you have to pay to stay at the Ritz-Carlton.”

KSL declined to remark.

The 373-room oceanfront resort last bought in 2016 for $317.2 million as half of China-based Anbang Insurance Group’s $5.5-billion acquisition of the Strategic Hotels & Resorts portfolio from Blackstone Group, real estate data supplier Costar said.

Last 12 months the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, underwent a $50-million renovation of its 373 visitor rooms, suites and spa. The resort is close to Laguna Beach and San Juan Capistrano and a 40-minute drive to Disneyland.

With its ballroom and assembly services, the resort is ready to appeal to conventions, company retreats and weddings as effectively as high-end tourism, Reay said. “For Orange County, it’s very diverse.”

KSL’s affiliated management firm, Peregrine Hospitality, will operate the property.

Last summer time, KSL purchased three luxurious properties from luxurious hotel-focused REIT Braemar Hotels & Resorts for $437.5 million. CoStar said. The properties are the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota in Florida, and the Hotel Yountville and Bardessono Hotel and Spa in California’s Napa area.