DEVELOPMENT
prominent Newport Beach properties . One of which is the erstwhile Fashion Island Hotel , which Eagle Four acquired in early 2022 from another local investment group , Irvine Company , and partnered with Montage International to convert the hotel into the Pendry Newport Beach , opening later this fall after an $ 80-million renovation .
The partnership made eminent sense . Montage is based in Orange County and its flagship property , Montage Laguna Beach , is only a 25-minute drive south down CA-1 from Newport Beach .
" It ' s a natural fit ; they wanted to expand their Pendry brand ," Kramer said . In fact , it will be the third Pendry hotel in SoCal , joining Pendry San Diego and Pendry West Hollywood . If the Montage brand is old school , classic luxury , Pendry is its precocious , playful sibling , still high on luxury but with a lifestyle twist . Kramer called the brand the perfect fit for the project .
The hotel , like Balboa , will have its own private club , much like a Soho House , Kramer said , like something one would find and want to join in New York or London . To that , Kramer refers to the property as an " urban resort ," which at its heart has the local denizens in mind . " That ' s key ," he said . " People who come to Newport Beach want to interact with locals — it ' s totally different than what drives other hotels and other markets ."
When complete , the hotel will have 295 guestrooms , including 82 suites , Spa Pendry , a pool with sundeck and 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space , including an 8,710-square-foot ballroom . The hotel ' s interior design is tasked to Studio Munge with architecture by WATG and landscape architecture by Burton Studio .
The hotel , a Four Seasons when it first opened in 1996 , has an arresting facade , reminiscent of Tetris blocks along the sides with rooms cascading like a waterfall toward the earth . One part of the redesign
PEOPLE WHO COME TO NEWPORT BEACH WANT TO INTERACT WITH LOCALS — IT ' S TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT DRIVES OTHER HOTELS AND OTHER MARKETS
– KORY KRAMER
was to make the hotel more operationally efficient and revenue generating . Consider the back of the house behind the front desk . When it was a Four Seasons , it was basically all offices . " We blew all that out ," Kramer said , making way for the private social club .
Though the purchase price details were not disclosed , Eagle Four ' s acquisition of the asset is compelling in that it quite possibly was not the highest bidder . It goes to the idea of local ownership trading on local reputation and tradition . Like Eagle Four , Irvine Company is a local developer , which , as Kramer told it , " realized we ' d be a better steward of the asset ."
Which isn ' t to say it came cheap . " I mean , we are paying for the location ," Kramer said . Barriers to entry in Newport Beach are high — there are no new hotels currently being zoned for or in the construction pipeline . The only real opportunity is to acquire and reposition existing stock . " That ' s kind of our business plan ," Kramer said . " And we ' re okay with getting deals that have hair on them . Being local really helps ."
SEEING BEYOND It sure does . One of Eagle Four ' s most interesting deals was the 2020 joint acquisition with Lyon Living of the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa . Following an extensive renovation , the hotel reemerged in 2022 as the VEA Newport Beach , a Marriott Resort & Spa .
VEA ? It ' s not an official brand under
Kory Kramer is a partner at Eagle Four Partners and serves as its investment officer .
The VEA Newport Beach , a Marriott Resort & Spa reopened in 2022 following an extensive renovation by Eagle Four Partners .
44 hotelsmag . com May 2023