Sunstone Development acquires side-by-side hotels in Anaheim for $21M

Sunstone Development has picked up two side-by-side hotels next to Disneyland in Anaheim for a combined $20.6 million.

The Aliso Viejo-based developer bought the 44-room Days Inn by Wyndham at 1030 West Ball Road and the 24-room Budget Inn next door at 1042 West Ball Road, the Orange County Business Journal reported. The sellers were two unidentified family offices.

Sunstone acquired the Days Inn a few years ago for $8.6 million, or $195,500 per key. It snagged the Budget Inn for $12 million, or $500,000 per key.

The firm generally invests in hotels and apartments, with an investment arm specializing in student housing.

Otto Ozen and Brian Nakamura of The Mogharebi Group advised Sunstone in both deals. Unidentified sources told the Business Journal that Sunstone may raze both properties to build a modern hotel.

“Sunstone recognized that together, these properties combined were much more valuable than the sum of its parts,” Ozen said in a statement.

The developer bought the Days Inn, built in 1983, at the dawn of the pandemic, which shut down the hospitality industry. During negotiations, it offered to buy the Budget Inn, built in 1959, whose longtime owner didn’t want to sell, according to Nakamura.

“At the end of the day, they received an offer they couldn’t refuse,” Nakamura said.

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The Anaheim hotel market has since passed pre-pandemic levels, with 25.5 million visitors to the city last year, a 5 percent increase compared to 2019, according to Visit Anaheim.

The hotels are set on just over an acre north of Disneyland, near two of the park’s popular parking garages. The theme park has proposed redeveloping 100 acres, including three parking lots, for more attractions, hotels, shops and restaurants. 

Sunstone Development was founded in 2021 by Blake Wettengel, its CEO, and Tanya Muro, its chief financial officer. Both had previously worked at Nelson Brothers Professional Real Estate, an Aliso Viejo-based developer of student housing and assisted living centers.

— Dana Bartholomew