Ohana buys 347-room Hyatt hotel in Renton for $103 million

Ohana Real Estate Investors paid roughly $103 million for a Seattle area waterfront Hyatt hotel that was embroiled in a lawsuit by Chinese investors.

The Austin, Texas-headquartered investment firm purchased the 12-story, 347-room Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at 1053 Lake Washington Boulevard N, in Renton, Washington from SECO Development, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

SECO, led by Michael Christ, spearheaded Southport, a $590 million 2.4-million-square-foot mixed-use development on Lake Washington.

The deal works out to $296,830 per room.

The sale came after a U.S. bankruptcy court signed off on a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan by affiliates of SECO, which had been sued by Chinese investors for alleged fraud. Christ and his Renton-based firm rejected the investors’ allegations.

Some 199 investors had each contributed $500,000 (plus a $50,000 administration fee) to the Southport hotel project in exchange for green cards through the federal EB-5 program.

In all, $99.5 million was put into a limited partnership, Southport Hotel EB-5 LP, managed by Christ.

“The amount of recovery for our clients is unknown and will not be determined until 2025, likely next summer,” Matthew Livingstone, an attorney with Reid & Wise who represents the investors, told the Business Times. “The bankruptcy court will ultimately determine the amount of allowed claims against each debtor for our clients, if any.”

He said the approved plan set aside $32.5 million for investors’ claims, held in reserve until the bankruptcy court determines payouts, if any.

In September, Christ filed for bankruptcy, listing liabilities totaling $121.2 million. SECO’s telephone number has been disconnected, per the Business Journal.

SECO tapped CBRE Hotels to market the hotel for sale. Nearly 110 people or companies expressed interest, 15 toured the property and eight submitted bids.

Ohana said it will continue to operate the hotel as a Hyatt Regency. The firm, founded in 2009, manages $4.5 billion in assets, including 3.7 million square feet of real estate and nearly 16,000 hotel rooms, according to its website.

“Hyatt Regency Lake Washington is a flagship example of our investment approach — great real estate in a great location with a great story,” Eddie Yu, managing director of investments at Ohana, said in a statement to the Business Journal.

In April, Ohana and DivcoWest nabbed a $240 loan to refinance La Cantera Resort & Spa, a 496-room resort in San Antonio, Texas. In May last year, Ohana bought the historic Claremont Hotel & Spa on the edge of Berkeley, Calif., for $163.3 million.

— Dana Bartholomew