Carey Watermark Investors Inc., which purchased the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa last month, paid about $122 million for the Ponte Vedra Beach resort, according to two warranty deeds filed in St. Johns County.
Carey Watermark announced Oct. 6 it bought the Sawgrass Marriott from an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, but did not announce the price.
Carey Watermark is a real estate investment firm managed by New York-based W.P. Carey Inc. The Sawgrass Marriott was the 24th property in its portfolio, but the firm has announced two more hotel acquisitions since that deal.
The warranty deeds were filed by CWI Sawgrass Hotel LLC, a corporation that lists its address at W.P. Carey’s headquarters at 50 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
The two deeds cover three Ponte Vedra Beach parcels comprising the resort property.
Goldman Sachs had owned the Sawgrass Marriott since 2011, after its previous owners filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of the property.
The previous owners, two Irish Investment partnerships called RQB Resorts LP and RQB Development LP, bought the resort for $220 million in 2006.
RQB still owed $193 million on a loan from Goldman Sachs Mortgage Co. in 2010 when it filed for bankruptcy after failing to negotiate a loan restructuring.
During the Chapter 11 proceedings, Goldman Sachs appraisers valued the Sawgrass Marriott property at $132 million, after its value dropped during the last recession.
RQB could not come up with financing to pay off the $132 million, so it turned the property over to Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs spent $20.3 million for a renovation of the 511-unit resort early this year, Carey Watermark said, and the investment firm intends to spend another $25 million to enhance the property.
The firm said it will keep the Marriott brand on the resort, with Marriott International assuming management of the property.
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