KELSEYVILLE – The sale of the county's leading concert venue and resort is under way, with the price tag set at $25 million.
But the buyer for Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa won't be Kenwood Investments, the San Francisco firm headed up by the well-connected political lobbyist Darius Anderson.
Instead, it appears that it will be purchased by another Bay Area firm, Page Mill Properties, according to court documents obtained by Lake County News.
The UA Local Convalescent Fund has owned Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa since 1959, as Lake County News previously reported. The fund originally purchased the resort for $200,000.
The convalescent fund is controlled by the San Francisco-based Local 38 of the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Journeymen.
The resort was at the heart of a federal lawsuit that charged that Local 38's trustees diverted $36 million from five employee benefit plans to renovate and operate the report, located on Soda Bay Road.
But with that lawsuit reaching a tentative settlement on May 15 – and with a final settlement expected next month – the way appears clear for the resort to be sold.
The records of the settlement conference note that WhiteStar Investments LLC of Boca Raton, Fla., is handling the resort sale, which isn't required in the lawsuit's settlement terms.
In 2005 Local 38's pension fund trustees hired WhiteStar to evaluate and sell the property, according to a letter written by James Baker – attorney for Local 38 and Lawrence J. Mazzola Sr., the union's business manager and financial secretary/treasurer – which Lake County News obtained earlier this year.
Baker's letter said the union's convalescent fund trustees decided to sell Konocti Harbor to “maximize its investment and secure Konocti's future development.”
Documents indicate the prospective buyer is Page Mill Properties, which is negotiating with WhiteStar to buy Konocti Harbor for $25 million.
During the federal lawsuit, two appraisals were conducted on Konocti Harbor. The appraisals valued the resort at $8.5 million as a non gaming venue, or $11 million if it included gaming, as Lake County News previously reported.
Page Mill Properties is a Palo Alto-based firm which invests in “commercial and multi family residential properties in growth markets,” according to the company Web site. Their portfolio includes San Francisco's Market Center and Clift Hotel, Automation Parkway in San Jose and the Lincoln Center in Denver.
Page Mill and its predecessor firms have acquired and developed $2.3 billion in real estate, according to its Web site. Its investors and financial partners “include leading public and private, domestic and international pension funds, institutional investors and investment funds.”
The court documents didn't offer a date for the sale's completion.
What happened to Kenwood?
Kenwood had been a prospective buyer for the resort since last year, when they negotiated a deal with WhiteStar for the resort's purchase.
When WhiteStar was brought on to sell the resort, it began by considering Konocti Harbor's “highest and best use,” according to Baker's letter. WhiteStar considered gaming as a prime use because of other Indian gaming casinos in the county.
Last year, Kenwood entered the picture. The firm has experience with other Indian gaming facilities, including the proposed Graton Rancheria casino in Rohnert Park, which it helped get off the ground.
Local tribes told Lake County News earlier this year that Anderson had approached them about partnering for an Indian casino.
In the case of the Elem Colony, Anderson reportedly told tribal officials he could “fast track” an Indian casino deal – which normally takes years to accomplish – because of his connections in the state and federal government.
But the Indian gaming plan at Konocti Harbor met local resistance, which culminated in a February vote by the Board of Supervisors to accept a resolution, championed by Supervisor Rob Brown, against Indian gaming at the facility.
Since then, Kenwood has not returned calls from county officials or from Lake County News.
However, Kenwood's abandoning the plan was confirmed by Anderson's statements this month to the North Bay Business Journal.
Anderson said he lost more than $100,000 in walking away from the agreement to purchase Konocti Harbor. But, faced with opposition from the supervisors and the community, Anderson said there was no way to make the deal work out.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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