Lowe Buys Miramonte for Nearly $29M

Destination Hotels and Resorts, an affiliate of LEIM, will operate the property, according to Bleecker Seaman, executive vice president of LEIM. He notes the resort occupies an 11-acre site along Highway 111, the major thoroughfare through the Palm Springs region that also is the commercial hub for the area.

The Miramonte, an upscale, full-service property, was built in 1963 as Erawan Gardens. It closed in the late 1990s for a $28-million renovation before reopening as Miramonte Resort in 1998. Lowe plans to invest more than $5 million in renovations to guest rooms, meeting space and public areas of the property, which includes the $3.5-million, 12,000-sf Well Spa, which opened in May. Destination's renovations will be modeled after those of its other resorts such as Royal Palms in Phoenix and L'Auberge Del Mar in Del Mar, according to Charlie Peck, president and COO of Destination, which also manages the Shadow Mountain Resort in Palm Springs and the Reserve, a private golf community originally developed by Lowe Enterprises.

Through LEIM, Lowe Enterprises manages in excess of $1.9 billion in real estate assets on behalf of institutional investors. Destination Hotels & Resorts is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lowe that is based in Englewood, CO. Destination is the fourth largest independent hospitality management company in the country, with 29 independent, luxury and upscale hotels, resorts and golf clubs.

The Miramonte was one of 11 hotels and resorts owned by the lodging division of Marcus Corp., which also manages Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn in North Hollywood. Marcus also operates a theater division that owns or manages 485 screens at 44 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio.

Cathy Scullin of NAI Capital Commercial brokered the transaction. The building, which shares a campus with the Hilton Hotel and Convention Center, was 96% occupied at the time of the sale.