The University of California ’s investment arm has purchased the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Half Moon Bay for $193 million. The purchase was confirmed by the San Mateo County Assessor’s Office after the sale was completed in recent days, according to Coastside News . This marks a addition in the trend of major real estate acquisition by a US higher education institutions.
The university had earlier purchased 50 acres from NCR for $25 million.
Officials said the later purchase provided additional space at a lower cost than building new facilities. “You want to give future generations the ability to create their own university,” Columbia President Lee Bollinger had said while discussing the expansion plans.
The acquisition comes after the Half Moon Bay City Council rejected a request from the hotel’s previous owner, Strategic Hotels and Resorts or a related entity, for relief from a $2.1 million overdue hotel occupancy tax bill. The University of Dayton had acquired the former headquarters of technology company NCR Corp. for $18 million in 2009, according to the report. The 115-acre property included a 415,000-square-foot building that the university planned to use for academic facilities, an alumni centre and various other purposes. Similarly, the University of Delaware also purchased a former Chrysler auto plant in Newark, Delaware, for $24 million. The 272-acre site was expected to support future research and development projects. The university acquired more than 17 acres on Manhattan’s Upper West Side between 2002 and 2009.
University officials have not publicly revealed their plans for the luxury coastal property or explained how it will be managed. The University of California’s latest purchase follows a broader pattern among universities that have acquired large properties to support future growth or strengthen their financial portfolios. It has now been transformed into the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. Columbia University followed a similar strategy in New York City. It later began a multibillion-dollar expansion project featuring housing, laboratories and public spaces.
