Fairmont Sonoma Owners Said to Seek Sale of Luxury Wine-Country Spa Resort
The owners of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Northern California’s wine district hired Hodges Ward Elliott to sell the luxury resort for about $100 million, according to two people with knowledge of the listing.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc., based in Toronto, holds almost 20 percent of the 226-room property, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the sale is private. The majority is owned by Crescent Real Estate Holdings LLC, a joint venture of Barclays Plc (BARC) unit Barclays Capital and Fort Worth, Texas-based Goff Capital Inc., the people said.
Crescent purchased the resort in the mid-1990s and later brought in Fairmont to operate it. A $55 million loan backed by the property was sent to a special servicer in November 2010 because it was at risk of imminent default, Realpoint LLC, a unit of Morningstar Inc., said at the time. The loan matured Feb. 1, according to the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based rating company.
The owners and Midland Loan Services Inc., the special servicer, agreed to a standstill in May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The owners later declined a loan modification in hopes of being able to sell or refinance the property, according to Realpoint. Midland agreed to allow the owners to resolve the debt by the end of January 2012, Realpoint said.
Michelle Heston, a spokeswoman for Fairmont Hotels, declined to comment. Jean Suitt, a spokeswoman for Crescent, said the only person who could comment is Goff Capital founder John Goff and that he wasn’t available. Calls to Hodges Ward Elliott, an Atlanta-based broker specializing in hotel properties, weren’t immediately returned.
Hot Springs, Golf
The resort has two outdoor pools, a 43,000-square-foot (4,000-square-meter) spa, five restaurants and a wine room, according to the property website. It also features natural mineral hot springs and an 18-hole golf course.
The loan for the resort, which was built in 1926 and renovated six years ago, was sponsored at issuance by Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. and Fairmont Hotels. It was originated by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. (BAC), according to Realpoint.
Crescent Real Estate Equities was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2007 and relinquished to a joint venture including lender Barclays Capital in November 2009, when the company’s name was changed to Crescent Real Estate Holdings.
To contact the reporters on this story: Nadja Brandt in Los Angeles at nbrandt@bloomberg.net; Hui-yong Yu in Seattle at 2373 or hyu@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net
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