SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL BUSINESS. has learned that Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is part of a three-pronged joint venture that will build a 400-room resort near the Westin Rio Mar in Puerto Rico.
According to Thatcher Brown, Fairmont s new director of business development, the property will cost in excess of $140 million to build. Partners in the deal are the Willowbend Development Corporation of Boston, which has an ownership position in the Westin Rio Mar, and Betteroads Asphalt, which is owned by the Diaz family of Puerto Rico. Willowbend, whose president/CEO is David Southworth, will develop the property; Fairmont will manage it, said Brown.
The property, set for a Fall 2003 opening, will be positioned at the highest end of hotels in the Puerto Rican market, said Brown, noting that rooms, which will be 450 square feet in size, will all have oceanview balconies. The resort will also have a 15,000 square-foot spa, 36 holes of golf, and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
John Rosen, development manager for Fairmont, said the company is exploring the possibility of putting in a villa product in the property. The Westin Rio Mar recently opened high-end villas at its resort nearby. (1/03/01) Ruthanne Terrero