Billionaire Larry Ellison added to his collection of luxury resorts with the purchase of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa.
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The Oracle founder and world’s seventh-richest person purchased the oceanfront hotel in Manalapan, south of Palm Beach.
The renowned resort at 100 S. Ocean Blvd. was sold for an undisclosed price by California-based Zinfandel Holdings LLC, led by the family of Simon Lewis. Eastdil Secured’s lodging team advised the seller.
“Our family feels privileged to have been a successful part of the Eau Palm Beach story,” Lewis, principal of London-based Lewis Trust Group, said in a statement. “Though we are sorry to bring our tenure to a close, we are gratified in knowing that Larry Ellison will treasure the resort and guide its hoteliers to even greater heights.”
The previous owner acquired the hotel and 8-acre property for $67.5M in 2003, property records indicate, and was asking around $1M per room for the 309-key resort, sources told the Palm Beach Daily News. They had tried to sell the property in 2019 but didn't find a buyer.
Zinfandel Holdings upgraded the property’s ballrooms and meeting spaces in 2018 and executed a multimillion-dollar renovation that began after the failed sale and was completed in 2022, according to the Daily News.
Ellison said in a release he has plans for updates to the property that will “further elevate the guest experience,” but he isn’t planning any major changes in the near term at the five-star resort. The “current team of hoteliers” will remain on staff.
“We are confident that this transition will not only enhance the unique experiences we offer but also introduce new amenities and services, ensuring Eau Palm Beach remains a premier destination,” Tim Nardi, the resort’s general manager, said in a statement.
The property first hosted La Coquille Club, a resort that opened in the 1950s and was a popular destination for high society like the Vanderbilt, Ford and Rockefeller families. The property was razed and replaced with The Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach in the early 1990s before the Lewis family eventually rebranded it as Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in 2013.
The hotel is part of the Preferred Hotels & Resorts Legend Collection, a consortium of independent luxury hotels.
Ellison is adding the Eau Palm Beach to a stable of resorts he has acquired in the last decade. He paid $300M in 2017 for 90% of a Hawaiian island that included the Four Seasons Lanai and Sensei Lanai resorts, along with a 3,200-person town.
That same year, he teamed up with Robert De Niro and Nobu Partners on a 16-room hotel where stays were marketed at $2K per night during the high season. His portfolio includes Nobu Hotel Palo Alto, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe and Sensei Porcupine Creek in Rancho Mirage, California.
While Ellison’s hospitality portfolio spans both coasts, the Eau Palm Beach purchase is close to home. In 2022, Ellison spent $173M for an estate less than 3 miles from the resort.
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