||| FROM PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL |||
Rosario Resort & Spa on Orcas Island is for sale — all 82.89 acres and 2,166 feet of waterfront.
Current owners are Jerrel Barto of Anacortes, who along with his son, Craig Barto, own Signal Hill Petroleum and are principals of Rosario Signal LLC. They bought it at auction in 2008 and have spent millions of dollars on improvements such as new marina docks, restaurant kitchens, roofing on the Cascade Bay Grill & Store, rebuilding three swimming pools, remodeling some guest rooms and installing a hydrogenerator.
Scott Cameron and Wes Falkenborg, co-founders of Land Advisors Organization Washington, a Bellevue-based land brokerage, have the exclusive listing. (There is currently no listing price, but there is what Cameron calls a data room that includes pro formas and more information on the Rosario website.)
Real estate experts and those who are familiar with the area — such as Orcas Island-based Windermere Broker Wally Gudgell/The Gudgell Group, who handled the 2018 sale of a 43-acre waterfront estate about two miles from Rosario to Oprah Winfrey — estimate the resort’s value could range from $15 million to $20 million.
Rosario General Manager Christopher Peacock has been part of the Orcas Island community for 41 years and has worked at Rosario for all that time, starting at the front desk, becoming house musician, historian and on. He knows every detail of the resort, starting with shipbuilder and former Seattle Mayor Robert Moran. In 1905, inspired by conservationist John Muir, Moran bought the land and then built the mansion that has become a landmark now.
Since Moran, Rosario Resort & Spa has had seven owners. Through the years, Peacock says, it has become a magnet resort destination for millions tourists from all over the world, including celebrities like Johnny Carson, Josh Groban, Kevin Bacon, Meg Ryan, Hillary Swank, Bill Gates, and Alex Trebek just to name a few.
Whoever buys it will be getting 69 condo-style guest rooms and the 25,000 square-foot mansion, which houses the registration area. The property also includes a restaurant and bar (Oprah popped in once for a bite). There is a spa, a music room with a show-stopping Aeolian pipe organ and Steinway grand piano and an in-house museum.
Peacock says Rosario, which employs about 140 people at peak season, is the largest facility in the San Juan Islands for groups of up to 250 people. Before the pandemic, which cut business by 75%, Rosario was always booked up during the summer. Now with travel trending up, the summer season is booking up fast again.
Cameron says a buyer could benefit from a variety of income streams such as sales of future private residences, lodging and hospitality income from short-term rentals of private residences, moorage reservations, day visitors and events.
Peacock says the property has untapped potential but needs to be redeveloped.
“It’s difficult to manage and needs building new accommodations and taking care of operational issues — all for a better guest experience,” he said.
Gudgell feels it’s a perfect resort opportunity.
READ FULL ARTICLE: www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/04/16/rosario-resort-spa-on-orcas-island-for-sale.html
Since the Bartos bought Rosario in 2008, they have done a splendid job of upkeep and redeveloping the Mansion, the docks, the kitchen, and many of the units. Willl new owners be required to follow the Rosario Development Plan, finalized by the property’s previous owners?
If the Land Bank bought it could they close it down and reduce tourism further? Seems a lot of people wold like that.
The Land Bank doesn’t have $20 million and would not provide employment for 150 people. Nor would they be able to run the marina or restaurants which many islanders enjoy.
A beautiful place!
Let me know how the auction goes!!!