SANTA BARBARA, CA- Despite having purchased three hotels over the past two years, including closing on the Ysidro Ranch Hotel here last Thursday, representatives of Ty Warner claim that the acquisitions were not part of an overall strategy to become a hotel guy.
Warner is the founder of Ty Inc., famous for the creation of Beanie Babies. On August 24, Warner purchased the 38-room, 500-acre Ysidro Ranch Hotel, where John and Jackie Kennedy honeymooned in 1953. Previously, he had purchased the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel, also in Santa Barbara, and the New York Four Seasons Hotel, in New York City.
However, while Warner might not have any concrete plans for a systematic expansion into the lodging industry, these acquisitions are more than a passive investment. He s not interested in real estate for real estate s sake, explained Craig Stevenson, executive vice president of Keystone Advisors, Inc., an independent company that purchases and manages hotel real estate for Warner. He s interested in the hotel business because it s exciting and it allows for a lot of creativity from a design standpoint.
Regarding the Ysidro Ranch, Warner has no specific plans for renovation or repositioning. We ll start looking at the asset now and decide what we want to do, Stevenson said. But anything we do would just be aesthetic, and consistent with the theme of the hotel. Jay Nussbaum (8/30/00)