OXNARD : City Revises Lease for Struggling Hotel

The Oxnard City Council has restructured its lease agreement with the owners of the financially ailing Radisson Suite Hotel, trying to help the owners of the city’s top hostelry stave off foreclosure.

The Ventura-based Westland Co. has fallen behind $19 million on a loan it took out to pay for the hotel, located next to the River Ridge Golf Course. The Los Angeles Raiders stay at the hotel during summer training camp.

Manufacturers Bank, which began foreclosure proceedings against Westland last year, has agreed to a settlement with the company’s attorney that would avert a July court hearing.

But for the agreement to become final, the bank said the company had to refinance its lease with Oxnard. The city owns the land on which the 250-room hotel is built, and leases it to the Westland Co.

Oxnard council members decided at Tuesday’s meeting to partly underwrite the hotel in 1985 to attract the Raiders and gain favorable publicity, and to build a place for golf-playing tourists to stay.

City officials originally expected revenues from the lease to offset payments on a $9-million bond the city took out to build the golf course’s sprawling parking lot.

However, Raiders owner Al Davis immediately placed a black cover around the practice field, blocking the view for spectators. And the Westland Co. fell into financial hardship immediately after the hotel’s construction in 1986. It never made payments to the city, which was forced to foot the yearly $985,000 bill for the golf course.

Under the revised lease agreement, the Westland Co. will pay Oxnard $50,000 a year for the next four years. After that, the city will receive a percentage of the hotel’s profits--25% after debt service--until 2050.

From now until 2007, Oxnard would probably get about $1.4 million rent from the hotel, according to a city report.