PASADENA : Ritz-Carlton Huntington Gets Last-Minute Reprieve

Owners of the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena won a last-minute reprieve from losing their property on Tuesday as a bank to which they owe $106.4 million postponed an auction of the property two minutes before it was scheduled to begin.

It was unclear if any of the small group of people who had gathered in front of the Rosemead offices of Chicago Title Insurance Co. were there to bid on the 383-room luxury hotel. Before bidding could begin, an official announced that the auction had been postponed until Nov. 23.

Title company officials said that Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank notified them at 8:58 a.m. that the auction would be put off. Thomas Tellefsen, one of four partners in the hotel, said afterward that the group was “really close” to arriving at an agreement with the bank to refinance their debt.

The hotel is managed by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., which does not have an ownership interest.