Marriott , but one that Eagle Four created with the blessing of the Bethesda , Md . - based hotel giant , which operates the property . Like an old John Wayne story , it ' s a good yarn .
Eagle Four bought the property during the throes of the pandemic in an off-market deal from Host Hotels & Resorts , which , not unlike the Pendry deal , knew the hotel would be in good hands , hands that needed to give it a makeover . Eagle Four went to work immediately on transforming it into " something that ' s great for the local community , but also something that lives up to its potential of its location ," Kramer said .
One of the first decisions was to reduce the key count from 532 to 400 and , then , figure out what brand to flag it with . It toyed with a couple of brands , such as JW
Marriott or affiliating it under Marriott ' s Autograph Collection , but because of the size of the hotel and it catering equally to group and transient business , nothing , Kramer said , really fit .
There are many Marriott hotels across the globe , but Newport Beach and Orange County hold a special place for current Marriott CEO Tony Capuano , who worked in the area early on in his Marriott career . " It ' s near and dear to his heart ," Kramer said . Eagle Four wanted to create something special for the hotel and worked directly with Capuano to create its own brand . VEA , in fact , is a made up word , a derivative of the Spanish word to see , ver . Seascape and harbor views result in Instagrammable sunrises and sunsets , Kramer said .
In conjunction with the project , Eagle Four is also in the process of adding 111 Ritz-Carlton-branded residences adjacent to the hotel that Eagle Four and Lyon Living got the entitlements for last year . The residences are slated to be complete by 2026 .
Both the Pendry and VEA deals were made during rocky times for capital markets , as the cost of capital rose from the result of higher interest rates . For the Pendry , Eagle reportedly secured a $ 146-million loan provided by ACORE Capital that went toward acquisition and renovation .
With VEA , Eagle ' s interest rate was locked in until it has to refinance later this year . " Hopefully the capital markets by then have settled down ," Kramer said .
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