Press Release: Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners
September 11, 2001
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Sunterra Corporation has sold the 59-room Harbour Lights Resort in San Diego, California, to
American Property Management in a transaction valued at approximately $8.65 million.
The Harbour Lights Resort opened in 2000 and is located in Downtown San Diego’s historic Gas Lamp Quarter, capturing
a significant share of the area’s leisure demand while still appealing to convention attendees. The Downtown San
Diego hotel market has shown significantimprovement in performance over the past several years as the city continues
to diversify its economy. With the emergence of the new convention center and new baseball field, the outlook
is very positive for the Downtown area.
Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners was Sunterra Corporation’s exclusive representative in this sale. Harry Pflueger and
Richard Carlson, managing directors in Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners’ Newport Beach office, oversaw the marketing
and disposition of the asset.
“This was an especially challenging transaction,” commented Pflueger. “The Harbour Lights opened last year as
a timeshare property, but due to the timing of Sunterra Corporation’s fiscal restructuring, the property was able
to be sold as a hotel without any timeshare encumbrances. The absence of historical financial performance made
financing this acquisition a real challenge for prospective purchasers.” American Property Management, recently
relocated from Albuquerque to San Diego, intends to position the property as an upscale boutique hotel. American
Property owns another full-service hotel in Downtown San Diego as well.
The Harbour Lights Resort is one of over 20 assets for which Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners has been acting as Sunterra
Corporation’s exclusive broker. As part of its ongoing reorganization, Sunterra has designated these non-strategic
assets for disposition. Cash proceeds from the sales will be used to support the firm’s reorganization, the repayment
of debt and will allow Sunterra to invest in its core properties, operations, systems and product development.
Other California assets from this portfolio include a 390-acre land parcel in Napa County and unsold timeshare
inventory in the South Lake Tahoe resort area, both of which were marketed by Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners and closed
in early September.
Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners is a leading full-service real estate group focused exclusively on the hospitality
industry. Insignia/ESG Hotel Partners is part of Insignia/ESG Capital Advisors Group, which focuses on investment
sales and debt financing for major properties of all types. Insignia/ESG is a subsidiary of Insignia Financial
Group, Inc., a publicly traded real estate company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IFS.
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Contact:
Kurt Lindsey Senior Associate, Corp. Communications 212/984-8216 kurt.lindsey@iesg.com