Pasadena Ritz-Carlton to be Sold

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The landmark Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena is being sold for $170 million to a Hong Kong real estate investment firm that may drop the name Ritz-Carlton, the Los Angeles Times reports.


Great Eagle Holdings, which owns office, retail, residential and hotel properties in Hong Kong, North America and Europe, announced the purchase in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Tuesday.


Great Eagle said it would pay cash for the 392-room hotel to two partnerships controlled by the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn., which bought it for $42.5 million in 1994. The sale is contingent on the termination of the management agreement with Ritz-Carlton.

The hotel on 23 acres overlooking San Marino has been a popular destination since 1907. In addition to countless wedding receptions and family celebrations, the Ritz-Carlton has played host to movie stars, politicians and star-studded galas.


In 1992, TV producer Harry Thomason’s surprise birthday party guest list included a sax-playing Bill Clinton.


The Huntington was rebuilt after being declared seismically unsafe in 1985 and reopened in 1991 as a Ritz-Carlton. It is the only AAA five-diamond hotel in Pasadena, and room rates start at more than $300 per night. According to the buyer’s statement, it earned a profit of more than $10 million last year before taxes and other charges.



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