CBRE Handles $121M Sale of Four Seasons in Vail

By Gail Kalinoski

The Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Vail, Colo.

Vail, Colo.–The Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Vail, Colo., an ultra-luxury property in the heart of one of North America’s top ski destinations, has been sold for $121 million in a deal arranged by CBRE Hotels.

Bernard Van der Lande of CBRE Capital Advisors, along with Mark Darrington and Larry Kaplan of CBRE Hotels, represented the seller, Barclays Capital, in the transaction. The buyer’s name was not released.

Barclays has owned the resort since a 2009 foreclosure, according to The Wall Street Journal. In a June 2012 story on Vail luxury condominium sales after the recession, WSJ wrote that Barclays was taking a “long view” of the resort town’s real estate values.

The Four Seasons has 121 hotel guestrooms and 13 two- to four-bedroom condominiums conceived as fractional units, but currently serving as hotel inventory. The resort features a 14,935-square-foot Forbes Five-Diamond spa; more than 7,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space; world-class dining with Flame and The Remedy Bar; and premium leased retail space. Located at 1 Vail Road, the resort also has slope-side ski-valet facilities located adjacent to Gondola One in Vail Village.

“The Four Season’s world-class service, luxury finishes and robust amenity package position the hotel as a marquee and irreplaceable asset,” Darrington, senior vice president, CBRE Hotels, said in a prepared statement. “Our experience in Vail and the mountain West has been unrivaled in recent years, which ultimately attracted tremendous buyer interest. This allowed us to achieve a pricing that reflects the market’s stature and the product’s premium.”

The Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Vail, Colo.

Darrington said CBRE Hotels worked closely with the firm’s investment banking unit, which “enabled us to execute a global and sophisticated offering process for the client.”

In marketing materials, CBRE Hotels noted that Barclays has been “a careful steward” of the property, most recently spending $2.5 million to relocate and redesign the lounge operation, which expanded the food and beverage facilities. But the firm noted there would be value-add opportunities for a new owner through increased retail leasing and guestroom enhancements.

The Four Seasons is not the only hotel that has changed hands in Vail this year. In January, Laurus Corp., a commercial real estate investment and development firm that bought the 292-room Vail Cascade Resort and Spa for $90 million, announced it was undertaking a $35 million renovation and repositioning of the property to turn it into a Five Diamond resort.

CBRE Hotels, a specialized advisory group, provides consulting, investment sales, research and valuation services to companies in the hotel sector. The group has more than 385 professionals located in 60 offices around the world. CBRE Capital Advisors is the real estate investment banking unit of CBRE in the Americas and provides independent advisory and equity placement working in partnership with the CBRE platform.