Plaza Alicante Undergoes a Change of Ownership

Plaza Alicante, the Garden Grove hotel and office complex developed by the late “credit dentist” Dr. Robert F. Beauchamp, is getting a new owner and a face lift.

Newport Beach-based Gatway Properties is selling the project to an affiliate of Tarsadia Hotels, the companies said Friday.

Costa Mesa-based Tarsadia said it to plans to spend $25 million to convert the virtually empty 200,000-square-foot office building into a 279-room all-suites hotel.

It is attached to the 400-room Hyatt Regency Alicante Hotel by a 10-story atrium. Combined, the hotels would rank as the fourth-largest in Orange County.

Terms of the deal, which is likely to close before the end of the month, were not disclosed.

Hotel broker Alan X. Reay of Atlas Hospitality Group in Costa Mesa said the hotel probably fetched between $24 million and $28 million. As for the office space, “I haven’t a clue,” Reay said.

Tarsadia is hoping to take advantage of expansions at the nearby Anaheim Convention Center and the opening of Walt Disney Co.’s California Adventure theme park next to Disneyland.

Privately held Tarsadia, formed in 1976, manages a portfolio of more than 3,000 rooms in more than a dozen hotels, mostly in California.

The sale comes three months after the passing of Beauchamp, who was a principal owner of Gatway, according to Steven Barklis, asset manager for Plaza Alicante.