San Francisco's Argent Hotel Reportedly On Sales Block

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. October 14, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 25, 2005. The Argent Hotel here is on the sales block and is expected to go for somewhere north of $200 million by most estimates, according to the San Francisco Business News. Local hotel observers say, the newspaper reports, options for a buyer include everything from a simple re-branding to a conversion of a portion of the hotel to residential condominiums.

The Argent is said to be a marquee offering for several reasons. At 667 rooms, it is the city's seventh largest hotel. It is also well positioned, sitting right between two five-star hotels, the Four Seasons and the soon-to-be-opened St. Regis, and located a block away from the Moscone Convention Center and around the corner from a new Bloomingdale's-anchored shopping center. Finally, the hotel is reportedly unencumbered by any management agreement, meaning a new owner could immediately switch from the Argent brand to another flag.

Secured Capital, which is brokering the sale, declined to comment, and people familiar with the offering said Argent owner Lowe Enterprises does not seem to have affixed a price tag to the listing, The San Francisco newspaper reported.

But local brokers and consultants say a sales price in the neighborhood of $300,000 to $400,000 per key would be appropriate for the hotel. Its rooms lack the finish and panache to fetch a valuation north of $400,000 or $500,000 like a Park Hyatt or Four Seasons, industry observers say. but the property is still solidly four star and in an excellent hotel neighborhood.

One complicating factor, the newspaper notes, is an 18-month moratorium on hotel-condo conversions imposed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. But that alone might not be enough to scare away investors.