The almost two-year overhaul signals a long-term investment from the theme park’s owner Cedar Fair LP (NYSE: FUN) in Orange County—one that General Manager Don Prescott has been pushing for.

“I think what’s evolved over the years is that Cedar Fair has realized that hotels are very important in trying to bring people to the park,” Prescott told the Business Journal.

Prescott has served as general manager at the 322-room hotel for the past 20 years and beforehand worked with the second-generation of the Knott family as banquet manager and supervisor from 1984 to 1996.

His hospitality experience includes roles with Wyndham Hotel Group and Sheraton before returning to the Knott’s company in 2006.

The biggest physical changes to the hotel, which includes a new full-service restaurant named Thirty Acres Kitchen and new meeting space in the form of a 4,400-square-foot outdoor courtyard, incorporate a new theme and design based off its founders Walter and Cordelia Knott.

“They are where Knott’s hospitality emerged from,” Cedar Fair’s Brian Klein, corporate director of resorts, marketing and brand management, said.

At the grand opening ceremony last month, hotel officials spoke about the necessary partnership of the park and hotel, and the goal to make more visitors aware of the property.

“We are first an amusement park, but now the hotel rooms are just as important to support the company,” Prescott said.

Knott’s Berry Farm had 3.9 million attendees in 2022, up 6% from the year before, according to Themed Entertainment Association’s global attractions attendance report.

A New Story

The property first opened as the Buena Park Hotel in 1968 and included a restaurant and club on the ninth story.

The finished overhaul is the largest renovation for the hotel since Cedar Fair first took over the property in 2000 and “cleaned it up,” according to Prescott.

For this project, Cedar Fair “wanted to put money into the hotel and come up with a story for it,” he said.

Several changes from the renovation were designed to be a nod to the history of the park, which hit 100 years in 2021, and its initial owners.

Thirty Acres Kitchen, formerly called Amber Waves, was named after the original 30 acres of land the Knott founders first had in Buena Park—Walter Knott purchased 10 acres while leasing the remaining 20. The theme park now spans 160 acres.

Next to the newly added 360-degree, wrap around bar hangs the wedding photo of the Knotts. The restaurant also added a patio outside to accommodate more seating.

The new outdoor California Courtyard added to the existing 20,000 square feet of meeting and banquet rooms. It has held its first wedding ceremony, hotel event planners said.

“The next step is getting the hotel’s name out there in the industry,” Prescott added.
Cedar Fair, currently valued at $2 billion, is finalizing its merger with Arlington, Texas-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX).

Announced last November, the entertainment companies combined will operate under the name Six Flags and the “FUN” ticker symbol with Cedar Fair’s Chief Executive Richard Zimmerman remaining in the same role.

The transaction will result in a total portfolio of 42 parks and nine resorts.

The post Knott’s Wraps $25M Renovation Of Buena Park Hotel appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The Aliso Viejo-based real estate investment trust (REIT) aims to close the deal later this month with Hyatt continuing to manage the property, which recently wrapped up a $37 million renovation.

Sunstone said the purchase would be funded by a portion of proceeds from its October sale of the 1,060-room Boston Park Plaza hotel last year, which went for $370 million to Hyatt, after 10 years of ownership.

The acquisition “demonstrates our ability to accretively recycle capital following our disposition activity late last year,” Chief Executive Bryan Giglia said in a statement.

Giglia expects the addition of the San Antonio hotel, along with Sunstone’s recent renovation of Andaz Miami Beach and conversions of The Westin Washington DC Downtown and the Marriott Long Beach Downtown, “will position Sunstone for significant earnings growth as we move into 2025.”

Sunstone’s current portfolio includes 14 hotels totaling 6,675 rooms. The REIT has a current market cap of $2.2 billion.

The post Sunstone Paying $230M For Riverwalk Hotel appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The Irvine-based hotel owner and operator appointed Greg Kennealey as its new CEO.
Dalecio isn’t retiring; he has become executive chairman of Outrigger Resorts & Hotels, which KSL Resorts acquired in 2016. He will also remain a senior adviser to KSL.

Kennealey is no stranger to the KSL business. The executive spent the past 10 years as principal and head of hospitality at KSL Capital Partners, the investor counterpart of KSL, before becoming head of the firm’s Colorado-based Mission Hill Hospitality in 2021.

He will continue to be CEO of Mission Hill as he leads KSL.

Previously, he was the vice president of asset management at Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts from 2006 to 2011 after working for companies such as IBM Global Services and LaSalle Investment Management in more business development roles at the start of his career.

Dalecio co-founded KSL Resorts in 2004 when the firm formed independently following its sale from KSL Capital Partners, which is headquartered in Colorado.

KSL was later behind one of Orange County’s largest-ever hotel transactions, selling the 400-room former Monarch Beach Resort for almost $500 million at the end of 2019. The firm has remained without a local investment since exiting the renamed Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club.

KSL currently oversees 45 hotels and resorts worldwide.

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Benson succeeds Peter Rice who retired earlier this month after 38 years with Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) and 10 years at the local property.

The appointment marks a return to Huntington Beach for Benson, who previously worked as director of food & beverage for two and a half years and led the opening of the resort’s Watertable restaurant in 2014.

Benson sports his own 35-year career with Hyatt having held positions in 13 different hotels and was most recently the general manager at the Hana-Maui Resort. He also counts five years as Hyatt’s corporate director of culinary operations after spending 20 years prior as executive chef across several hotels.

Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa is ranked as the eighth largest hotel in Orange County with 519 rooms.

The post New General Manager for Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The Aliso Viejo-based real estate investment trust (REIT) aims to close the deal later this month. Hyatt will continue to manage the property, which recently wrapped up a $37 million renovation of its guestrooms.

Sunstone reported using a portion of proceeds from its October sale of the 1,060-room Boston Park Plaza hotel last year, totaling $370 million, to fund the purchase. Additional details of the acquisition will be included in the hospitality firm’s first quarter earnings call next month.

The acquisition “demonstrates our ability to accretively recycle capital following our disposition activity late last year,” Chief Executive Bryan Giglia said in a statement.

Giglia expects the addition of the San Antonio hotel, along with recent renovations and conversions of other properties, “will position Sunstone for significant earnings growth as we move into 2025.”

Sunstone’s current portfolio includes 14 hotels totaling 6,675 rooms. The REIT has a market cap of $2.2 billion with shares trading at $10.82 during midday.

The post Sunstone to Acquire Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

Irvine-based hotel owner and operator KSL Resorts has appointed Greg Kennealey as its newest chief executive.  

The post KSL Resorts Names New CEO appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The transaction marks the departure of Austin-based Ohana Real Estate Investors as a minority shareholder.

Montage International, which oversees luxury properties from both Montage and Pendry Hotels & Resorts, said it plans to scale its business to more international markets with the support from its new investors.

“Our partnership will spur the next stage of the company’s growth in the United States and beyond for both the Montage and Pendry brands,” Founder and Chief Executive Alan Fuerstman said in a statement.

The local hospitality group manages 17 properties across the Montage and Pendry brands. Ohana maintains ownership of three Montage hotels and currently owns the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club in Dana Point.

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The resort, owned by Burbank-based The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), and Anaheim presented a new proposed development agreement to the city council on Jan. 23, saying the entertainment giant’s expected investment would be made during the first 10 years of development if the project is approved.

DisneylandForward was first introduced in 2021; the latest version of the proposal codifies many of the initial concepts that Disneyland and the city initially had considered.

Park representatives said the $1.9 billion commitment would cover the creation of new attractions, lodging, dining and retail via the DisneylandForward expansion.

Specifics on new development will be determined after city approvals are gained, potentially this year.

The city notes that the plan “does not request any new acreage, square footage or hotel rooms to be developed.”

Instead, it would “shift already approved development amounts across land Disney owns,” according to the city.

Big Plans

Disneyland’s proposed investments into the city over the next decade would be among the larger construction projects on the books for Orange County.

Disney’s last big investment into its area theme parks, for the 2019 opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, was developed at a cost estimated to approach $1 billion.

The 2021 opening of the Avenger’s Campus was estimated to cost an additional $500 million.

Anaheim officials said that the recently agreed investment plan could reach beyond the minimum $1.9 billion figure, and approach $2.5 billion over the next decade.

Among notable changes in zoning, the proposal would increase the zoning that allows for a mix of theme park attractions, hotels, shops and restaurants from 292 acres to 389 acres.
Updated zoning “could allow for new lands and attractions like those seen at Disney parks around the world,” according to a city fact sheet.

Priority Funding

The city last month outlined additional priority funding that Disney would contribute, for infrastructure and affordable housing needs within Anaheim.

Those plans currently include:
• Up to $90 million in city street and transportation improvements.
• $10 million for sewer improvements along Katella Avenue and Anaheim Boulevard.
• $8 million in public park updates within the first year, and
• $30 million for affordable housing within five years.
The proposal would extend the previous 1996 agreement between Disney and the city. ­­

Street Details

As part of the $90 million in city street and transportation improvements, Disney would pay $40 million for surrounding small streets such as Magic Way, Clementine Street and Hotel Way, as part of the proposed city agreement.

It would also seek the removal of street extensions at the Toy Story Parking lot located between Katella Avenue and Orangewood Avenue.

The DisneylandForward team has already proposed a 17,000-space eastside parking structure, serving arrivals from the Santa Ana (5) Freeway with a walking bridge to the parks, similar to the bridges and shuttles at the Mickey & Friends and Pixar Pals structures on Harbor Boulevard.

Plans also include building a trio of foot bridges over Harbor and up to two over Disneyland Drive.

Housing, Parks

Disney’s $30 million earmarked for affordable communities in Anaheim would be the largest corporate contribution made to the city for that purpose.

The funding could help develop about 500 apartments, according to city data.

The company has previously given $5 million to the Orange County Housing Trust that aided in funding Finamore Place, a $61 million, 102-apartment community opened in 2023.

“It opens the opportunity to look at more affordable housing we aren’t able to do today because resources are limited,” Anaheim spokesperson Erin Ryan said.

The $8 million park investment from Disney could fund a 3-acre park, according to Anaheim. Other developments could include a mix of new basketball courts, playgrounds, skate parks or waterplay areas citywide.

Agreement Extended

Prior investments made by Disney on the original terms from 1996 resulted in the California Adventure park, the Downtown Disney shopping district and the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.

Discussions on the project are expected to begin at a planning commission hearing in March. More city council hearings are planned for April and May.

Disneyland is Orange County’s largest employer with about 35,000 employees, as well as the main driver for OC’s vital tourism industry.

Downtown Development

Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock says the Anaheim theme park had approximately $2 billion in developments underway as of 2023.

Among those projects is the revamp of the Downtown Disney shopping district, which still has several updates on the way for 2024.

The multiyear renovation project is seeing several retailers and the former AMC Theater being replaced by a new entry portal, and more than a dozen new dining and retail spots, such as Porto’s Bakery and Din Tai Fung.

Plans for a new two-story Earl of Sandwich shop are also in the works.

New restaurants Paseo and Céntrico, both from Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytán, began construction in 2023 and are set to open this spring.

The Walt Disney Co. recently announced a third food outlet from Gaytán called Tiendita that will open alongside the other two this year. Tiendita’s menu will offer on-the-go meals related to Paseo and Céntrico’s Mexican cuisine.

All three establishments are operated by New York-based Patina Restaurant Group, which also operates locations at Walt Disney World in Florida.

The restaurant operator counts Downtown Disney’s Naples Ristorante e Bar and Tortilla Jo’s, and Leatherby’s Café Rouge at Segerstrom Center for the Arts as part of its local portfolio. Tortilla Jo’s will be closing on March 31 in time for the opening of the three new Mexican eateries.

Other new establishments on the way to the shopping district include an entertainment and food space called The Alley and a food hall dubbed Parkside Market with four different fast-casual options including Korean rice bowls and a second story bar.

The post Disneyland Proposes $1.9B Investment With Anaheim appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

The 14-story property, located within the Jamboree Center office complex along the San Diego (405) Freeway, reopened some of its guest rooms last fall after an almost three-year closure due to the pandemic. Its event space also reopened late last year.

Irvine Co., which owns the towers at Jamboree Center, sold the new 516-room hotel to Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) for $135 million in 2022.

The former Hotel Irvine took on the Hyatt name, and the new owners undertook a $50 million renovation that started last year and will wrap up come May. A fair amount of those funds went toward the hotel’s meeting space, officials said.

“We’re pleased that the Hyatt Regency Irvine reopened in the third quarter earlier than expected and on budget, and with a full grand opening expected in the first quarter of 2024,” Hyatt Hotel president and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said late last year.

2024 Plans

According to Director of Sales & Marketing Terrance Frederick, 2024 is all about getting people back into the building.

Hyatt has been focused on building the hotel’s customer base back up after its closure, with a large focus on the local clientele, including both residential families and companies with OC offices.

Hotel officials are not shying away from its preexisting strength in business and group travel. Currently, 70% of guests are business travelers. The hotel is a little more than a mile away from John Wayne Airport.

From financial seminars, and teaching sessions, to awards banquets and standard meetings, the newly returned Hyatt is open to hosting all kinds of businesses in its renovated spaces, officials said.

To prepare for returning and new clients, the hotel’s 50,000 square feet of meeting rooms and their features saw renovations.

The hotel’s main ballroom, the largest in Irvine spanning 14,660 square feet, had more rigging points added to the ceiling, which are used for additional lighting and speakers for more “creative” event planning.

Through a partnership with Encore, Hyatt also updated its Wi-Fi service to eliminate the dead spots formerly throughout the meeting halls to better serve large-scale events, presentations and galas.

The property also had LED walls installed throughout the lobby and meeting spaces to allow visual marketing for the visiting clients to use.

“We have some competitors that have probably taken a lot of business from central Irvine while we were closed. We have to capture them back, and then we’ll start to inch out as we get further along,” Frederick told the Business Journal.

Singing At Home

Since reopening last year, the hotel’s meeting rooms have been busy, officials said. Hyatt Regency Irvine ranks No. 12 among OC hotels with the largest amount of meeting space, according to Business Journal research.

“It was the opening piece for us,” Frederick said.

The first organization the hotel welcomed back was the University of California, Irvine putting on an alumni awards banquet. Reyes Bottling, a manufacturer headquartered in the same office park, was also one of the first companies to use the space in August.

The Hyatt has also seen Rivian Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: RIVN) and Kaiser Permanente pass through its doors for various events and meetings since last year.

“I think we’re doing a good job on homing in on our backyard,” Frederick added. “We have to get a grip on what’s here in the community first. Most true stars start singing at home.”

The hotel also hosted six weddings last year, with two more on the books for the beginning of 2024. Multiple politicians have used the space for fund-raisers.

Terrance said that the hotel’s sales team was currently bidding on a group to visit in July that had never hosted an event in Irvine but is a longtime Hyatt client.

This February, the UFC will host its fighters prepping for the upcoming pay-per-view fight in The area, with weigh-ins at the hotel.

“We’re now on everyone’s radar,” Frederick said.

Final Pieces

The last few touches of the renovation are still on the way with a new restaurant, operated by a third-party company, aiming to open in May.

The restaurant, named Warehouse 72, was founded in Texas.

The final piece of the Hyatt Regency will be the renovated pool and water slide. The hotel dedicated around $4 million to updating the outdoor pool and its surrounding lounge area in order to provide better amenities to help attract more leisure travelers to round out its demographics.

Hyatt’s goal is to have a 50-50 split between group and transient travel.

“We’re being thoughtful of the touch points,” General Manager Sid Ramani said, noting Hyatt aims to fill the need for a leisure hotel in Irvine.

A new coworking space and the hotel’s marketplace, featuring local goods and food options, will open on Feb. 1 along with the updated Regency Club on the fourth floor.

“We’re really excited to be back in the market,” Frederick said.

The post Hyatt Regency Irvine Looks to Win Back Home Market appeared first on Orange County Business Journal.

As of January, there was 1.9 million square feet of total meeting space among the 35 OC hotels with the most space that caters to larger events, according to this week’s Business Journal list. That’s up 6.2% from last year’s totals, with two local properties coming back online and multiple renovations and expansions to area hotel interiors.

The opening of Pendry Newport Beach and the return of the Hyatt Regency Irvine last year brought back 108,000 square feet of ballrooms, conference rooms and outdoor patios.
The openings come amid a strong market for the sector.

“There’s consumer optimism,” Visit Newport Beach told the Business Journal.

The nonprofit organization is one of several area marketing groups focused on promoting tourism across OC, and is involved in marketing Newport Beach hotels to interested meeting planners.

“We’re noticing an uptick in meeting commitments, and room nights that the clients are signing right now,” the organization said.

Pendry debuts on this year’s list with 58,000 square feet of meeting space and ranks No. 9 on the list.

For the Hyatt Regency team, the hotel’s meeting rooms reopened alongside the first batch of guest rooms in August as a key piece to reintroducing the property to the business market.

“It’s all about getting people back into the building,” Director of Sales & Marketing Terrance Frederick told the Business Journal.

With the Hyatt’s return to the list, it becomes the hotel with the largest amount of meeting space in Irvine and ranks No. 12 among all OC hotels. It was previously known as Hotel Irvine, prior to its pandemic closure.

The Disneyland Hotel remains at the top of the list with 215,796 square feet of meeting space.

Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club moved up to No. 4 with an increase of around 9,000 square feet, moving Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa to No. 5.

The Dana Point hotel renovated its former Athletic Club space into a new meeting room and terrace named Avalon., which opened in March last year.

Other changes from last year include the renaming of DoubleTree by Hilton Anaheim-Orange County to Hotel Fera, a DoubleTree by Hilton, which maintained its 40,000 square feet of meeting space.

Disney’s Pixar Place Hotel was removed from the list this year due to current renovations making its meeting rooms unavailable for booking.

City Venues

With two new luxury hotels opening in the last couple of years in Newport Center, the city of Newport Beach has experienced a back-to-back resurgence in activity.

“It’s created a wonderful buzz in the local client community,” Visit Newport Beach said.

The organization noted that the city’s variety of hotels with different price points and amenities allow for a good mix of client bases.

A business favorite would be the Renaissance Newport Beach Hotel, used regularly by association groups and praised for its “function flow” from room to room.

The upscale, luxury properties aim to pull business from industry sectors such as health and insurance groups, according to the marketing organization.

Other cities have also benefitted from new openings to recapture its meeting and events business.

For Costa Mesa, the Orange County Museum of Art has not only brought an increase of visitors to the city but offers a new venue close to its base of hotels.

“This event space has allowed us to provide impactful, stunning venue options when booking off-site group business,” Travel Costa Mesa said.

Hoteliers saw group business increase by over 23% in revenue per available room year-over-year in 2023 while transient business increased 5%.

Travel Santa Ana has also looked to its local art scene, with the marketing organization developing a partnership with the Bowers Museum to promote the institution as a space for off-site meetings and events.

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