Host Hotels & Resorts has agreed to acquire Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu, Hawaii, from Blackstone Real Estate for $680 million, net of key money, or $725 million overall, the real estate investment firms shared in separate announcements Wednesday.
As part of the acquisition, Maryland-based Host also purchased a 49-acre land parcel entitled for development, worth some $50 million of the total sale price.
Upon closing, Host plans to transition management to Marriott to rebrand the resort under The Ritz-Carlton flag.
Turtle Bay underwent a “transformative” renovation while closed from March 2020 to June 2021, according to Host. The revamp touched guest rooms and bungalows, pools, the spa and restaurants, as well as lobby, retail and meeting space. Additional updates were made to the exterior and arrival space and included the addition of a new club lounge.
According to Host, the 450-room resort is expected to become one of its top assets “before taking into account the significant upside that is expected from The Ritz-Carlton branding.”
Host President and CEO James Risoleo said the deal “will further expand and diversify our already strong presence in Hawaii.”
“Oahu is a high demand leisure destination with consistently high occupancy, an internationally diverse demand base, and high barriers to entry, resulting in slightly negative supply growth historically and essentially no anticipated near-term supply,” Risoleo said in a statement. “With the planned Ritz-Carlton rebranding, we believe the Resort will generate outsized growth as it stabilizes, further elevating the EBITDA growth profile of our portfolio.”
Blackstone Real Estate purchased Turtle Bay Resort in 2018 for $332 million and invested “significant capital” in renovations, the company shared in a separate announcement about the sale.
Blackstone said it expects the sale to Host to close in the third quarter of 2024.
The real estate investment firm also sold 65 acres of land at Turtle Bay to Salt Lake City-based development company Areté Collective, which it said is “known for sustainable development practices.”
Including the sale of land to Areté, Blackstone expects to generate $768 million from sales at Turtle Bay.
Turtle Bay resort is situated on 1,180 acres on Oahu’s North Shore.
Earlier this year, Marriott opened its first AC Hotel on Oahu in Honolulu.
Hilton is also making a luxury push on the island, renovating the 462-key Trump International Hotel to bring it under its LXR Hotels & Resorts flag.
Hawaii hotels could potentially benefit from recent short-term rental legislation, experts told Hotel Dive earlier this month.
