- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Hoberg’s Resort & Spa sale final; new group of owners plans multimillion dollar investment
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – One of Lake County's oldest resorts passed into new ownership this week.
Hoberg’s Resort & Spa was purchased from Cobb Mountain Partners by Lake County Partners LLC, with the sale closing on Wednesday, Lake County Partners spokesman Roger Salazar told Lake County News on Friday.
Terms of sale – including the sale price – for the 55-acre resort on Cobb Mountain were not disclosed.
“Hopefully this is a new day for that project,” said Salazar.
New owners Silvester Rabic and Frank Sasselli anticipate putting $7.5 million into renovating and operating the resort, where Cobb Mountain Partners had invested about $2 million since purchasing the property, Salazar said.
Cobb Mountain Partners – led by Dan Kottke, an early Apple employee – purchased the resort, located at 15205 Highway 175 on Cobb Mountain, in July 2010 from the Maharishi Global Administration Through Natural Law, as Lake County News has reported: http://bit.ly/1sjRFW3 .
Hoberg’s Resort was founded in 1885 by Gustav and Mathilda Hoberg. It began as a lodge with a few cottages, and grew to be one of the largest privately owned resorts in California.
At its peak in the 1950s, Hoberg’s hosted more than 1,000 guests a night and was home to celebrities and politicians.
In January 1974, the Hoberg family sold it to Maharishi International University, with the property later recorded under different organizations under the ownership of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
From the time of the 1974 sale by the Hobergs up until Cobb Mountain Partners purchased the resort 36 years later, it had not been open for public use.
Since the 2010 purchase, “There was substantial money put into the property,” said Dan Nelson, who acted as resort manager for Cobb Mountain Partners.
He said expenditures totaled about $2 million. That total covered renovation costs and many “soft” expenses, including architectural drawings of the entire resort, as well as roof work and infrastructure.
Nelson said that the group ran into financing issues, and so Kottke began looking for a prospective buyer.
Rabic has extensive real estate and software industry experience, and has financed and developed several spec buildings throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, according to his biography at http://lakecountypartnersllc.com . Details about Sasselli's business experience was not available on the site.
Lake County Partners intends to bring in American Resort Management to accelerate the opening and operation of Hoberg’s Resort & Spa, Salazar said.
Nelson is temporarily acting in an advisory capacity as the resort transitions to its new owners.
He has set up a meeting with the new owners and Community Development Director Rick Coel for April 14, Coel told Lake County News.
Coel said that the resort has no active permits now. “I need to determine what their timeline is for the rehabilitation show and advise on the use permit and building permit processes,” he said.
Salazar said the resort's new owners have a plan for moving forward that consists of a number of phases. They intend to announce their plans in the coming weeks. In the mean time, they will meet with the county, and work on permits and requirements.
“They want to make sure that they have everything lined up before they announce any hard dates,” Salazar said.
One part of the plan that has been announced is that Lake County Partners has reached an agreement to lease a self-contained structure that will be converted into The Spa at Hoberg’s Club Resort.
The spa will serve as the centerpiece of the revival of Hoberg’s and will be operated by Lake County Partners under the direction of American Resort Management.
Drawn to the project
Salazar said Lake County Partners was drawn to the Hoberg's property, and felt that it would work with the right backing and financing.
They consider it an opportunity to take a really unique property with a strong historical mooring and bring it into a new era, Salazar said.
He said there was no question that Cobb Mountain Partners wanted the project to succeed. “Nobody gets into a project to fail.”
However, he added, the downturn in the economy has waylaid a lot of projects like Hoberg's. He pointed to the efforts to sell Konocti Harbor as evidence.
Those financing issues had led to back property taxes and late vendor payments for Cobb Mountain Partners, according to local officials.
However, with Wednesday's closure of escrow, the county of Lake received a payment of $102,647.95 from the title company, which covered current and delinquent property tax on the resort's five parcels, according to Lake County Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen.
Ringen said the resort's property taxes had been delinquent since the 2010-11 tax year.
In addition, both Salazar and Nelson reported that payments owed to vendors by Cobb Mountain Partners had been made by the resort's new buyers.
Salazar said there is tremendous potential for hospitality in the region.
In a written statement, Rabic said getting the project back on track “is a great thing for Lake County and Northern California.”
He said plans at Hoberg's include “recreating a premier multi-faceted entertainment and activity destination in Lake County. With a new management structure in place, we can get down to finishing the next phases of renovation and finally reopen to the public.”
The new owners' vision is that the renovated Hoberg’s Club Resort will present a variety of film festivals, concerts, entertainment events and special themed weekends as part of its offerings.
It's hoped that the resort will not only offer lodging and one-of-a-kind club resort amenities, but that it also will “be a tremendous economic driver and job creator for Lake County,” Rabic stated.
The resort's new owners also introduced a new celebrity advisory board consisting of Lorenzo Lamas, Olivia d’Abo, Jose Canseco, Ernie Hudson and Glen Morshower, who will assist with marketing the resort when it opens and will attend grand opening events.
Hoberg's also is taking part in a reality television show called “Extreme Resort Makeover,” Lake County Partners reported.
Nelson said 22 promotional spots for the resort featuring the advisory board members already have been shot.
“We are so happy this project is once again moving ahead,” Sandra Hoberg, whose grandparents were the original owners of Hoberg’s, said in a written statement. “My entire family has been looking forward to seeing the resort renovated and restored. All of Lake County is going to benefit and I think the entire community is behind this important project.”
The resort's Web site is www.HobergsClub.com .
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