News
Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa is being listed for sale by Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group, a brokerage firm specializing in hotel sales in California.
Earlier this fall a Palo Alto firm was considering buying the resort, as Lake County News has reported.
Atlas Hospitality President Alan Reay told Lake County News that the company is just beginning the listing process.
In the sale, Reay said Atlas is representing WhiteStar Advisors of Boca Raton, Fla., which is running the resort for Local 38 Convalescent Trust Fund, which has owned the resort for about 50 years.
The asking price?
“There is no asking price on it,” said Reay.
Reay said the large property is appealing to many different kinds of buyers, from hotels to developers, at different price points.
That, he said, led to the consensus that there should be no specific asking price in order to encourage the various interests.
Atlas' listing on Konocti Harbor offers 58 acres for sale, with 255 guest units, a 100-boat slip marina, a 5,000-seat amphitheater, 20,000 square feet of meeting space, a 1,000-seat indoor showroom and a 19,000-square-foot spa.
That actually only accounts for roughly half of the resort's overall acreage. Reay said the union wants to keep some vacant acreage and the location of a children's camp.
The camp, dubbed “Camp Konocti,” is entering its 44th year, according to the Local 38 Web site, and is reportedly for the children of Local 38 members.
“We're basically selling the site that has the improvements,” said Reay.
Reay described the resort as having a wonderful location on “irreplaceable real estate.”
Atlas hopes to find the right buyer, who has the time and money to put into the property's renovations, said Reay. “If someone does that there's an opportunity to make a lot of money.”
The resort is being sold without management or franchise encumbrances, said Reay, which means that if a new buyer comes in they don't have to retain management staff.
“From an investor standpoint it's great because it offers them a lot of opportunities,” said Reay.
Different interests abandoned resort purchase
Konocti Harbor has so far fallen out of escrow twice this year.
In the spring, Kenwood Investments decided against purchasing the property in the wake of community resistance to a plan to locate an Indian casino at the property, as Lake County News previously reported.
The resort, which also was at the heart of a federal lawsuit settled earlier this year, was then considered for purchase by Page Mill Properties of Palo Alto for a reported $25 million price tag, according to court documents.
As part of the federal settlement, Local 38 agreed to appoint WhiteStar Advisors of Boca Raton, Fla., as an independent fiduciary to oversee the resort's operations and its sale, according to court documents.
Jim Bishop, managing director for WhiteStar, told Lake County News this summer that the company has been working for about two years on the resort's sale.
In taking over the resort's operations, Bishop said WhiteStar planned to keep the existing management and operation in place, with the resort's president and chief executive officer, Greg Bennett, acting as their representative at the resort.
Konocti is in the middle age range for some resort properties; Bishop said there are some resorts more than 100 years old that remain premier destinations, while some newer south Florida results are not in good shape.
Bishop said the market for resorts such as Konocti Harbor “generally is pretty good,” with buyers usually investment funds or institutional and real estate investment trusts – not unlike the resort's current owner.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley on Friday gave an update on those county residents who have come forward so far to file a Form 501.
Called a “declaration of intentions,” the candidates must fill out the Form 501 before they can begin to solicit funds for a campaign, said Fridley.
With Supervisor Ed Robey not seeking reelection in 2008, as Lake County News was first to report earlier this year, a big field of potential candidates is forming.
Fridley said so far Voris Brumfield, Jim Comstock, Scott Fergusson, Susanne La Faver and Bobby MacIntyre have filed their Forms 501 for the District 1 seat.
Also up for election in 2008 are Supervisor Anthony Farrington's and Supervisor Rob Brown's seats for Districts 4 and 5, respectively.
Fridley said no one has filed a declaration of intention so far to run against Farrington. In District 5, Robert Stark has filed his form to begin a campaign against Brown.
However, Fridley pointed out that the election season hasn't even technically begun.
She said an individual isn't officially a candidate – even those who are incumbents – until they file all the necessary paperwork and follow the required steps.
From Dec. 28 through Feb. 21, candidates will begin gathering signatures in lieu of paying a filing fee to run for office, said Fridley.
The fee to run, said Fridley, is based on 1 percent of the annual salary of the position they're seeking.
In this year's budget supervisors make $4,807.46 a month, or $57,689.52 annually. That would mean the fee would be just under $600.
However, enough signatures can replace the fee. Fridley said, on average, four signatures equal $1 of the fee, meaning each candidate would need to collect about 2,400 signatures.
If a candidate decides not to collect signatures, they can simply pay the fee and collect nomination signatures.
The nomination period to officially file to run for supervisor will then run from Feb. 11 through March 7, 2008, said Fridley.
“Once someone files as a candidate for supervisor and files their declaration of candidacy, they can't withdraw. their name will be on the ballot,” said Fridley.
If there is an eligible incumbent who doesn't file for office by March 7, as is expected to be the case in District 1, the nomination period will be extended until March 12, said Fridley.
The supervisorial primary will be held in June.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
How to resolve AdBlock issue?