Investors Buy, Renovate Hotels

Far Horizons bought the Granada Inn from Orange-based the Best Union LLC for $4.6 million, according to JC Fan of Sperry Van Ness, who represented the seller. Fan says the buying entity, which was represented by Jim Lai of Lai's Realty, plans to spend $1 million in improvements to the property, which was built in 1968 and consists of two buildings totaling 45,360 sf on 1.8 acres of land at a Central Orange County location adjacent to the I-5 and SR 91 freeways. At about the same time as the Granada Inn deal closed, an individual buyer purchased the 51-room Desert Inn Motel at 607 W. Fifth St. in San Bernardino for more than $1.2 million, reports Manoj Shah of Sperry Van Ness. Shah represented the buyer and the seller, a Diamond Bar-based private investor. The motel, in Downtown San Bernardino just off the 215 Freeway, was built in 1958 and comprises 17,556 sf on about three quarters of an acre. Also at the same time as those deals closed, Windsor Hospitality Group announced renovations to its Embassy Suites Temecula Valley Wine Country property in Temecula. The Embassy Suites property, visible from the 15 Freeway, is undergoing a remodeling that is scheduled for completion at the end of this summer. The renovations entail stripping all of the rooms, says sales director Vangie Esteban. The update will include high-speed wireless internet and other improvements to meeting rooms, according to GM Dwayne Lewis.The recent sales and renovations continue a trend noted in a report earlier this year from Costa Mesa-based Atlas Hospitality Group, which pointed out that the two Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino both posted more sales transactions and a higher dollar volume for the most recent reporting periods.