Japanese Join Resort Venture
In a deal that demonstrates increasing Japanese interest in San Diego real estate, a group including a Japanese real estate investor and the Four Seasons Hotel chain has signed an agreement to build a luxury resort in Carlsbad costing more than $100 million.
The 450-room Four Seasons Aviara, scheduled to open in 1992 on the north shore of Batiquitos Lagoon, will be operated by the Four Seasons chain, Toronto-based owner-operator of 22 luxury properties in the United States, Canada and Britain.
TSA International of Honolulu, controlled by Takeshi Sekiguchi of Japan, is investing in a number of large hotel projects in the United States, including three in partnership with Hawaiian developer Chris Hemmeter. Last year, they completed the 1,400-room Hyatt Waikoloa, a $375-million project. TSA and Hemmeter are also partners in the Westin Maui and Westin Kauai.
Another investor in the new resort is Hillman Properties, the Newport Beach-based real estate arm of Pittsburgh billionaire Henry Hillman, which controls more than $2 billion in property.
The land on which the resort is to be built is part of a 1,000-acre parcel Hillman acquired from Hunt Properties Inc. of Dallas for more than $70 million last year.
Although Japanese investors so far have concentrated their Southern California activities in the Los Angeles area, they have shown more interest in San Diego in the past year or so. Sports Shinko of Osaka bought the La Costa Resort Hotel for $250 million in 1987, and several downtown San Diego office buildings are now owned or partly owned by Japanese.
The Aviara resort is part of a master-plan project that will include an Arnold Palmer-designed 18-hole golf course as well as convention and meeting halls and 2,836 units of housing, a Hillman spokesman said.
Aviara is TSA’s second San Diego project. TSA joined forces last year with Naiman Co., Shimizu Corp. and Nissho Iwai Trading Co. to develop the $150-million Aventine mixed-use project in La Jolla. Now under construction, that project includes a 400-room Hyatt Regency Hotel to open Dec 15, a 225,000-square-foot office building and three restaurants.
Among Four Seasons’ 22 hotels are four in California: the 330-room Four Seasons-Clift in San Francisco, the 236-room Four Seasons Santa Barbara, the 285-room Four Seasons Los Angeles and the 284-room Four Seasons Newport Beach.
