Tribe Buys Downtown San Diego Landmark
The Sycuan Band of Kumeyaay Indians has purchased the U.S. Grant Hotel, a 93-year-old establishment in downtown San Diego that has played host to presidents and celebrities.
The San Diego County tribe took over the 284-room hotel Wednesday from Wyndham International Inc. for $45 million. The Dallas-based hotel chain paid $29 million for the property 2 1/2 years ago.
“We feel the hotel is a part of history, and we are part of that history too,” said Sycuan tribal chairman Daniel Tucker. He said the tribe would not seek to operate a casino at the hotel.
Sycuan has been a leader among California Indian tribes in aggressively expanding business operations beyond their land. Its 900-acre reservation is southeast of El Cajon. Sycuan operates a successful gambling business there.
The tribe has a special reverence for the hotel’s namesake, President Grant, who signed an executive order in 1875 setting aside lands in San Diego County exclusively for the Kumeyaay, including the Sycuan reservation.
The 170-member tribe also said it would spend an additional $10 million to renovate the aging hotel, which has struggled for more than two decades to become profitable. The hotel’s occupancy rate is believed to be low for the downtown area.
In 2000, Sycuan purchased the Singing Hills Country Club and a 104-room hotel three miles from the reservation. Last August, it proposed a $25-million hotel, restaurant and market near the National City waterfront. Last month, the tribe launched a mutual fund to invest in stocks of large and medium-sized American companies.
Through the years, the hotel played host to presidents such as Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy and assorted dignitaries, including columnist Walter Winchell and actor Clark Gable.
