A Chicago company withdrew its bid to purchase the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa. Submitted Photo
A Chicago firm has withdrawn its offer to spend $175 million to buy the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa and the Sonoma Golf Club.
Walton Street Capital was supposed to buy the luxury resort and golf course from Crescent Real Estate Equities Co., a Fort Worth, Tex.-based real estate investment trust that owns 80 percent of the Mission Inn.
But documents that Crescent filed Monday with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission said that the sale fell through on June 26.
Crescent has demanded $3.5 million in earnest money from Walton Street Capital, the SEC documents said.
Attempts made Monday by the Sun to contact officials from Crescent and the Sonoma Mission Inn were unsuccessful.
The proposal to buy Mission Inn and golf course was part of a larger purchase by Walton from Crescent of six other luxury hotels and spas around the West, including the Ventana Inn and Spa in Big Sur and the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa in Avon, Colo.
Crescent officials said that they want to get out of the resort and hotel business so they can focus on managing Crescent’s office buildings.
Through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, Crescent owns and manages a portfolio of what it says is 68 “premier” office buildings totaling 27 million square feet located in markets across the United States with major concentrations in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Miami, and Las Vegas.
The sale of the Sonoma Mission Inn could boost property tax revenue collected in the Springs by the Sonoma County Redevelopment Agency.
The Inn currently is assessed at about $37 million and pays about $212,000 in annual property tax.
If the property is sold, it will be reassessed and will likely pay much higher property tax.
Despite having its name on the property and managing its operations, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts only owns a 20-percent interest in the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa and Sonoma Golf Club.
