Palm Springs, Calif., Hotel Sells, $50Mln Renovation Planned

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By Jillian S. Ambroz

The Palm Springs Riviera Resort & Racquet Club hotel in Palm Springs, Calif., has just traded hands and is getting a $50 million makeover.

A venture between Phoenix firm HBF Holdings LLC and Noble House Hotels & Resorts acquired the property last month for $25 million from Carpenters Pension Trust. The deal was brokered by Atlas Hospitality Group of Costa Mesa, Calif.

RockBridge Capital of Columbus, Ohio, is believed to have provided acquisition financing. Details could not be learned. RockBridge is also said to be involved in providing financing for the renovation as well.

The new owners have some big plans for the hotel, which in its heyday served the likes of the Rat Pack, a long list of U.S. presidents, and even the King himself, Elvis Presley.

The venture is looking to bring the property back to its original grandeur and raise the caliber of the boutique hotel to that of a four-star or four-diamond property. It also plans to add a residential component to the 21-acre site.

For starters, the venture plans to slash the number of hotel rooms to 400 from 476 to employ some larger suites and different room lay-outs. It will also completely reconfigure the public areas, redoing the lobby and adding a couple of bars. There's even talk of adding a bowling alley to the lobby.

The hotel has 50,000 square feet of meeting space. The new owners may convert the smallest ballroom, about 5,500 sf, into a spa.

HBF and Noble are contemplating getting a change-of-use permit to allow for a residential condominium development on the five-acre back parcel of the property. That area holds tennis courts, an 18-hole putting golf course and the former Bono's restaurant, previously owned by the late Sonny Bono. The size and scale of that project could not be learned.

There had been talk of franchising the hotel under a national flag, such as Sheraton or Intercontinental. But it will remain independent and operated by Noble House, which is based in Bellevue, Wash.

The hotel, which sits at 1600 North Indian Canyon Drive, is one of the few properties in the area owned fee-simple. Much of the property in the area is operated on ground leases with Native American groups that own the land beneath them.

The hotel closed at the end of May for renovations. It is slated to re-open about 18 months from now.