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Don't be surprised if the next major Gulf Coast hotel deal involves the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.
Coffee Talk hears the Kansas-based owners of the 14-year-old Sarasota resort have hired the commercial brokerage firm Jones Lang LaSalle to market the hotel and its amenities.
If a sale occurs, it likely would be for at least $100 million, based on property assessments and other prominent sales of luxury properties.
The Ritz-Carlton's owners, managers and brokers all declined to comment. But several commercial real estate brokers tell Coffee Talk the hotel is for sale.
“We're not at liberty to discuss what we're working on,” said Gregory Rumpel, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle's Hotels & Hospitality Group. “So I can neither confirm nor deny our involvement with the property. But we like that market; we're very enthusiastic about the Sarasota area. There are a lot of interesting things going on there.”
Robert Buford, managing director of resort owner SLAB LLC, did not return calls for comment, and co-owner Daniel Buford referred inquiries to his brother.
Sarasota-based Ritz-Carlton executives say a sale would not affect day-to-day operations at the downtown hotel and spa, Lakewood Ranch-area golf club or beach club on Lido Beach.
Says Marcie McGeehan, the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota's director of sales and marketing: “For us, it would be business as usual.”
Daniel Lesser, president and CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors, of New York, says luxury resorts are in high demand, especially for foreign buyers. “I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Sarasota Ritz were on the market, because the market for sales has never been this heated in my 35-year career.”
“There's tremendous capital out there, and markets throughout the country are setting records in regards to room rates, occupancy and property profits,” Lesser adds. “And, at the same time, new supply — especially in the luxury category — has been muted, and we're in a low-interest rate environment, so there are a lot of positive factors.”
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