Ritz-Carlton Mulls Irvine Site
Ritz-Carlton Hotels Co. said Friday it is in talks with a developer about opening one of its luxury hotels near the San Diego Freeway in Irvine, catering to high-end business travelers and competing more with the Four Seasons hotel in Newport Beach than with the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point.
The Atlanta-based chain, which a decade ago had just six hotels, now operates 36 and is in the middle of an expansion spree with plans to open at least seven more worldwide by 2003.
“Our development people definitely feel the Irvine market can support a luxury hotel,” said Stephanie Platt, a Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman. “But at this point we’re not quite ready to start talking about the details.”
Speculation in real estate circles focused on Fluor Corp.’s former headquarters site on Jamboree Road, where Crowe-Winthrop Development L.P. is beginning to develop 2.2 million square feet of offices, retail businesses space and other uses.
Plans for the project include a top-flight hotel, said Bill Lane, managing general partner for Crowe-Winthrop.
“We are currently negotiating with various operators to run a luxury hotel on this spot,” he said.
Construction has begun on a 780-space parking structure behind an Edwards Cinema that could serve such a hotel. But Lane said it’s also possible that a large office building might be built first if an agreement is reached with a major tenant.
He declined to identify any of the parties in the negotiations.
Irvine Co. officials said Friday that are they not negotiating with Ritz-Carlton. The giant land developer has earmarked a site for an upscale Loews hotel in its Spectrum business complex several miles southeast of the Crowe-Winthrop project.
The Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point, perched on an oceanfront bluff above Salt Creek Beach, is Orange County’s fanciest resort hotel. Filled mainly with wealthy recreation seekers in the summer and on weekends, it supplements that business during off-season weekdays by booking business meetings.
An Irvine luxury hotel, by contrast, would cater to very high-end travelers drawn by Orange County’s booming businesses.
“It’s the president and executive vice presidents and the lawyers and Wall Street investment bankers in town for a couple of days to close deals who would be the customers,” a source said.
Ritz-Carlton has situated two hotels close together in the past. It has properties just 12 miles apart in suburban Washington--in Tysons Corner and Arlington, Va.
Several existing hotels near the Jamboree site are solid upscale properties, including the Irvine Marriott and the Hyatt Regency Irvine. A luxury hotel of the caliber of a Ritz-Carlton would compete instead with the Four Seasons at Newport Center, which, like the Hyatt Regency, is owned by the Irvine Co.
The Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point is a 40-minute ride from the Jamboree site. Even with last year’s El Nino rains, which cut into winter business dramatically, it averaged a solid 77% of its rooms rented. John Dravinsky, the general manager, said occupancy this year is on track, at 82%.
Marriott International Inc., which owns Ritz-Carlton, said Thursday that strong demand for high-end rooms helped it raise prices and open more hotels. It reported a first-quarter profit of $100 million, up 12%.
Ritz-Carlton has hotels in Pasadena, Marina del Rey and Rancho Mirage. It expects to open a Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, hotel in late 2000 and is in discussions for additional properties at more than 50 sites, including Half Moon Bay, Goleta and San Diego, said Karen Sheldon, its regional director of sales.
