Colony Palms Hotel, widely recognized as one of the most prominent boutique hotels in the United States, sold this week for $15 million. The 57 room hotel, restaurant and spa was named to Conde Nast’s “Hot List” upon opening in 2008, thereby establishing it as one of the top new hotels in the world. The seller was Pacifica Colony Palms LLC, an affiliate of Pacifica Capital Group, which acquired the property and redeveloped it in 2004. The purchaser was a joint venture between real estate investor and developer, Michael Rosenfeld through an affiliate of his Woodridge Capital Partners, and an investment fund managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P.
“Since our opening in 2008, we have been intensely focused on establishing Colony Palms as one of the most prominent boutique hotels nationwide. With a tremendous amount of passion, vision and dedication from our team, we were able to build and position the brand to a discerning guest base in a very short period of time and demonstrate operating and profitability margins unique to boutique hotels,” according to Britten Shuford, President of Pacifica Capital Group.
Steve Ohren, Co-Founder of Pacifica Capital Group, demonstrated great vision and unwavering perseverance which was critical in developing the Colony Palms Hotel. Ohren was one of the earliest visionaries of the Palm Springs renaissance. Sadly, Ohren passed in 2008 after the hotel’s opening at the age of 54 following a battle with cancer. “We are proud to honor Steve’s legacy by reaching high expectations for the hotel. I think he would have been very pleased to see the Colony Palms’ success,” Shuford added.
With a rich and storied history dating back to the 1930s, the Colony Palms embarked on a mission to establish one of the top brands and boutique hotels in an otherwise forgotten market. By commissioning celebrity designer Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, the goal was to establish an upscale sophisticated boutique hotel in what was seen at the time as an underserved market. By combining classic architecture, unique history of the property, Lawrence-Bullard’s design aesthetic and a specific marketing program, the Colony Palms was quickly able to establish a nationally recognized independent brand.
John Strauss and Anthony Muscio of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels represented the seller in the transaction.
About Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is a global real estate services firm focused exclusively on hotels & hospitality. We provide acquisition and financing advice, valuations, investment sales and asset management for luxury hotels, select service and budget hotels, smaller hotels and pubs, from single assets to large portfolios and mixed-use developments.
In the last five years we completed nearly 4,000 advisory and valuation assignments and more sale, purchase and financing transactions than any other hotels real estate firm in the world…worth over $30 billion. With 42 offices in 20 countries, no other firm is better connected. Through our depth and breadth of research and experience we know the market at every level, we know the players and we know how to get results. www.joneslanglasallehotels.com
