Investors to buy Balboa Bay Club
International Bay Clubs Inc., parent company of the Balboa Bay Club & Resort and the Newport Beach Country Club, has been sold to investors in Irvine.
Eagle Four Partners, a private equity group, and Pacific Hospitality Group LLC, a hotel management group, will assume joint management of both properties.
“One of the great things about this asset is that it is historic and iconic,” Kory Kramer, vice president of acquisitions and development of Pacific Hospitality Group, said Tuesday. “One of the reasons we were chosen to enter into the purchase agreement was that the current owners thought us worthy stewards of this asset.”
Chief investors in the deal are Richard H. Pickup, a Newport Beach resident, and members of his family, who have invested in several hotels managed by the Pacific Hospitality Group.
The sale is expected to close within 60 days. The terms were not disclosed.
The new partners plan to reinvest in both properties, including possible improvements to the BBC’s guest hotel rooms and first floor public space, and the golf course at the Newport Beach Country Club, Kramer said.
“We are pleased to be passing the torch to the Pickup family, Eagle Four Partners and Pacific Hospitality Group as they navigate the next chapter in the Balboa Bay Club & Resort and the Newport Beach Country Club’s evolution,” David Wooten, chief executive of International Bay Clubs Inc., said in a prepared statement. “We are confident that they will honor and preserve the rich history of these iconic properties.”
IBC is owned by Beverly Ray Parkhurst, who has been involved with the BBC for more than 40 years and the Newport Beach Country Club since the mid-1980s.
Parkhurst’s late husband, William Ray, bought the BBC in 1971 and operated it until his death in 1991. Since then, the property was remodeled to include a 160-room resort. There is also a private club, marina and 145 apartments.
IBC bought the Newport Beach Country Club in 1985. The 18-hole course hosts the Toshiba Classic, a stop on the PGA Champions Tour. A new clubhouse, set to replace a more than 50-year-old facility, is planned.
A deal announced in August to sell the club to a Chinese investor fell through.
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