Santa Barbara’s Canary Hotel has been acquired by the Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants private equity fund, according to a news release issued Wednesday.
Kimpton, a San Francisco-based hotel company, and the 97-room luxury hotel on the corner of Chapala and Carrillo streets have been discussing the sale since January. The Pacific Coast Business Times reported that the hotel will change hands for $40 million.
“Both ETC Hotels and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants are making every effort possible for the seamless continuity of business for Canary,” Canary publicist Jennifer Guess previously said in a statement. “Both companies are committed to providing the very highest levels of service that our guests have come to know, enjoy and expect about Canary.”
Kimpton will manage the Canary and the Coast Restaurant & Bar, and most of the current staff will remain intact, according to the news release.
Edward Thomas Hospitality Corp., which owns Shutters on the Beach and Casa del Mar in Santa Monica, bought the Canary at 31 W. Carrillo St. five years ago for $31 million, according to county property tax records.
Bill Kimpton founded San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in 1981, and the company has grown to 54 luxury hotels, 15 of them in California, according to its website. Kimpton’s Southern California hotels include Hotel Palomor in Los Angeles and Hotel Solamar in San Diego as well as 10 properties in the Bay Area. This is the seventh investment for Kimpton’s KHP II Fund, following the purchase of the Riverplace Hotel in Portland, Ore., earlier this year.
“It’s exciting to be in a position right now to acquire such high-quality properties,” Kimpton CEO Michael Depatie said in the news release. “Being well-poised to move quickly on attractive deals, either to work with developers looking for equity partners or to acquire properties in key target markets, has worked to our advantage in Santa Barbara. We hope this trend continues as we continue to seek assets for acquisition.”
The Canary Hotel is built on the site of the old Carrillo Hotel, which provided low-income housing for seniors until 1994, when it was demolished because it didn’t meet earthquake standards.
It opened as Hotel Andalucia in 2004, and Edward Thomas purchased the hotel from the Tynan Group two years later.
In 2008, ETC changed the name to the Canary Hotel and marketed itself as the area’s only boutique hotel. The Canary is known for its Coast Restaurant & Bar and its 360-degree rooftop view.
The Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta is also up for sale; Ohana Real Estate Investors purchased the 35-acre beachfront resort at 8301 Hollister Ave. from the ADCO Group for $104 million last July.
Kathy Jenega-Dykes, president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission, previously told Noozhawk that historically, hotel brands have always been attracted to Santa Barbara.
“What’s attractive is the diversity of the businesses in this community,” she said. “Some resort communities focus primarily on leisure, but in our case we attract conferences, corporations and social groups in addition to leisure and visitors who come from all over the world.”
— Noozhawk business writer Alex Kacik can be reached at akacik@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.