Blue Diamond Hospitality scooped up a 151-room Hyatt-branded hotel in Fremont for $13.2 million, a third lower than its assessed value.
The Fresno-based investor bought the Hyatt Place Fremont/Silicon Valley hotel at 3101 West Warren Avenue in Warm Springs, the East Bay Times reported. The seller was RLJ Lodging Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Maryland, according to Crexi.
The deal works out to nearly $87,400 a room. Last year, sales of Northern California hotels came to a median price of $109,243 a room, according to Atlas Hospitality Group.
The purchase price was 34 percent below the property’s last assessed value of $20.1 million.
The deal comes as numerous foreclosures have engulfed hotels in downtown San Jose, downtown Oakland, San Francisco and beyond. Bay Area hotels have suffered a steep drop in values, leading to a wave of failed property loans. But that can encourage new investment among bargain buyers.
This month, an affiliate of San Diego-based Kalthia Group Hotels scooped up the 142-room Hyatt House Pleasant Hill at 2611 Contra Costa Boulevard in Pleasant Hill in a foreclosure auction for $3.3 million, or $23,200 per room.
Following a buying spree last year, the firm also bought the 88-room Super 8 by Wyndham at 2050 North First Street at 2050 North First Street in San Jose for $8 million, or $90,900 per room.
Other hotel foreclosures over the past year include the 276-room dual-branded Marriott hotel at 1431 Jefferson Street in Oakland, the 541-room Signia by Hilton in downtown San Jose and the 500-room Oakland Marriott City Center.
Blue Diamond, led by Karamjit Nijjar, owns a handful of hotels in California, including Hampton by Hilton at 5975 Travel Park Circle in Gilroy and Fairfield Inn and Suites at 220 Greenville Road in Livermore, according to its website.
It also owns two transportation firms, KS Trans Services and Renteria Trucking. In 2022, Nijjar and his family faced felony fraud charges in a $2.5 million workers’ comp scheme. They pleaded not guilty. The outcome of the case isn’t clear.
—Dana Bartholomew
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