Carmel Valley Ranch Becoming Condotel

CARMEL, CA-LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels is converting the 144-room Carmel Valley Ranch here to a condo-hotel. LXR is a hotel company formed by affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors following the acquisition of several hotel portfolios.

The plan is to invest upward of $60 million to renovate the property and all of its guest rooms and then sell off the individual rooms to investors who may chose to put the rooms back into the hotel rental pool when not using them. As the first condominium-hotel to operate in the Monterey Peninsula, LXR president Russell Flicker says the property “will meet a strong market for buyers.”The guest rooms–housed in a series of attached and detached townhomes–will be ready for use in early 2008, shortly after the ranch’s golf course is refurbished. The units range in size from 800 sf to 1,400 sf. Pricing starts at $880,000 for the smallest units, which is just over $1,000 per sf.Flicker tells GlobeSt.com the gross sell-out value of the guest rooms likely will come in between $150 million and $175 million. Sales began today. Buyers are required to go straight to hard contract, he says. Real estate sales and marketing will be handled by Sotheby’s International Reality. He expects the rooms to be sold out long before the renovation is complete.

The guest rooms and exterior landscaping are being redesigned by architect Peter Gumpel. In addition to golf, amenities will include a tennis club, fitness center and three restaurants. Services include in-room dining, daily housekeeping services, evening turndown, garment care, in-suite spa services and a concierge.

Carmel Valley Ranch was acquired by Blackstone affiliates as part of their acquisition of the Wyndham Portfolio, which was taken private via the transaction about 18 months ago. The affiliates also acquired the Boca Resort portfolio, several hotels acquired from Meristar and other one-off acquisitions and consolidated them under the LXR brand.