Hotel Group's Opening Play: $200M-Plus Resort

"We're always looking at risk-adjusted returns," says David W. Cobb, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based private investment group. "At this cycle of the US economy, hotels are a good investment." The 400-acre landmark, bought from USAA Real Estate, christens a plan to build a resort portfolio of irreplaceable locations in select US markets, like Hawaii, and internationally.

Heading up the BentleyForbes Hospitality Group LLC will be James Kasim, executive vice president and CFO who was hired a year ago. Kasim has more than a decade of experience in the hospitality and real estate sectors as a former senior manager with the Los Angeles office of Ernst & Young.

Cobb says negotiations opened and closed in less than three months for the Las Colinas prize. Lawrence B. Wolfe, partner and managing director of New York City-based Eastdil Secured, brokered the sale.

Cobb says the Four Seasons' hold will be at least five to 10 years. How many more resorts will be bought hasn't been determined. "We never put a number on it. We are trying to look at the fundamentals of the deal," he stresses to GlobeSt.com, citing the risk-adjusted calculations of today's cash flow and where it will be in five to seven years.

Cobb says the hospitality sector's "sustained upswing," particularly four- and five-star hotels, is predicted to bring risk-adjusted returns much akin to BentleyForbes' portfolio of class A office buildings, which in Dallas alone totals 1.35 million sf. The investment group, with a strong appetite for trophies, will be closing this month on its second major office acquisition of the year--the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta. That binding contract and its May purchase of Prudential Plaza in Chicago will have cost nearly $1 billion to execute.

BentleyForbes will tee off the Four Seasons takeover with a double-digit multimillion-dollar renovation of the two championship golf courses, hotel lobby, common areas and all support components. The San Antonio-based USAA just added 40 more villas, but BentleyForbes is stepping up to overhaul the 357-room balance. The upgrades will take 18 months to complete.

The Toronto-based Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts stays in place as the day-to-day manager. "Four Seasons is very hands on. So from the standpoint of us, it will be pretty hands off except for asset management," Cobb explains.

The new owner will nurture the relationship that USAA, the 20-year-old resort's developer, has fostered with the Salesmanship Club of Dallas and the PGA Tour to host the annual EDS Byron Nelson Championship. "We look forward to ensuring that this vital event continues to be a successful fund-raiser that benefits at-risk children and families in the North Texas area," Cobb says.

BentleyForbes' AAA Five Diamond-ranked resort has two 18-hole championship golf courses, private sports club, spa and more than 34,000 sf of events space. The room count includes 16 suites and 90 villas. The golf facilities include a corporate golf school, extensive practice area, professional instructions program and retail shop. The top-ranked Tournament Players Course and Conde Nast favorite was designed by Jay Morrish with Byron Nelson and Ben Crenshaw as player consultants. The resort's sports lineup includes world-class tennis facilities and programming, also top-ranked on the national circuit.