BRIEFLY / REAL ESTATE : Investment Group Buys Miramar Sheraton

Investment group Maritz, Wolff & Co. bought the 302-room Miramar Sheraton Hotel in Santa Monica for approximately $90.6 million from an affiliate of Japan’s Fujita Corp. Officials of Maritz, which is based in Los Angeles and St. Louis, did not disclose the price, but Fujita indicated that the price was $300,000 per room. That is the highest per-room price paid this year for a California hotel, according to Alan Reay, president of Costa Mesa-based Atlas Hospitality Group. The steep price is nonetheless a good deal for the buyer, according to Reay, who said Santa Monica is one of the strongest hotel markets in the country, with occupancy rates averaging above 80% per year, compared with an L.A. County average of about 70% and a U.S. industry average of 68%. Maritz, which owns a number of other top-quality hotels, plans a multimillion-dollar renovation to transform the property into “a world-class hotel,” said F. Matthew DiNapoli, Maritz executive vice president. Maritz Wolff specializes in high-end city and resort hotels, with nearly $1.4 billion in assets, according to the company’s announcement. Its holdings include the Four Seasons Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, the Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis, and a 50% interest in four Fairmont Hotels in partnership with Saudi Prince Al Waleed ibn Talal ibn Abdulaziz al Saud.