Sunday, May 27, 2007
The Palms Golf Club
Fred Couples and Brian Curley designed The Palms Golf Club located in La Quinta right down the street from PGA West. The course opened for play in December of 1999 and quickly became known as a one of the best golfing experiences in the desert. Members enjoy a low initiation of $40,000 with with dues of $5,700 a year. Dues include all member green fees, cart, locker, range, pro shop buying plan, and bag storage. The Palms has a "no tee time required" policy. 
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Why Imperial Irrigation District Rates Are So Low???
Coachella Valley has two choices for power companies IID which stands for Imperial Irrigation District and Edison. People often ask why IID's rate are so much lower.
Why IID Energy's Rates are so low:
-no shareholders so they focus on lower rates not profits
-majority of energy self generated so they do not rely on market prices
-acces to low cost federal hydro power provided by their affilation with the Western Area Power Administration
-tax exempt making the borrowing processes easier
-customer owned and community elected Board of Directors partake in the rate process
Why IID Energy's Rates are so low:
-no shareholders so they focus on lower rates not profits
-majority of energy self generated so they do not rely on market prices
-acces to low cost federal hydro power provided by their affilation with the Western Area Power Administration
-tax exempt making the borrowing processes easier
-customer owned and community elected Board of Directors partake in the rate process
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
CNL Hotel & Resorts Acquired by Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Pyramid Advisors and Partners, Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Complete Acquisition of CNL Hotels & Resorts, Inc., for $6.6 Billion
Spins off $2.4 Billion in Hotels to Ashford Hospitality, Retains Eight Luxury Resorts
BOSTON, Mass., April 16, 2007 – Pyramid Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of CNL Hotels and Resorts, Inc. (CHR) for $6.6 billion. Immediately prior to and in connection with the acquisition, Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT) acquired for $2.4 billion 51 of CHR’s full- and select-service hotels aggregating 15,105 rooms. Pyramid and Morgan Stanley Real Estate acquired CHR’s eight luxury resort properties in Arizona, California, Florida and Hawaii aggregating 5,506 rooms.
“We are delighted to participate in this transaction with our partners at Morgan Stanley Real Estate, which significantly expands our on-going relationship with them,” said Richard Kelleher, chief executive officer, Pyramid Advisors. “The resort properties represent some of the industry’s most significant and irreplaceable hospitality real estate.”
The acquired resorts include:
The 950-room JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz.
The 279-room Claremont Resort & Spa, Berkeley, Calif.
- more -
Acquires CNL Portfolio
Page 2
The 584-room Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes and the 998-room JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, both in Orlando, Fla.
Three hotels in Hilton’s Waldorf=Astoria Collection, the 738-room Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz., the 796-room La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, Calif., and the 780-room Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, Hawaii.
Pyramid Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate will own and asset manage the portfolio. Both firms currently also participate in and co-manage investment funds with approximately $2.5 billion of hospitality real estate throughout the United States.
Pyramid Advisors is a full-service, privately-owned hotel company based in Boston. Pyramid is a hospitality property manager, asset manager and project manager with approximately 50 properties under ownership, property management or asset management, totaling more than $7 billion in asset value. For more information about Pyramid Advisors, please visit www.pyramidadvisors.com.
Complete Acquisition of CNL Hotels & Resorts, Inc., for $6.6 Billion
Spins off $2.4 Billion in Hotels to Ashford Hospitality, Retains Eight Luxury Resorts
BOSTON, Mass., April 16, 2007 – Pyramid Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate announced the completion of the previously announced acquisition of CNL Hotels and Resorts, Inc. (CHR) for $6.6 billion. Immediately prior to and in connection with the acquisition, Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT) acquired for $2.4 billion 51 of CHR’s full- and select-service hotels aggregating 15,105 rooms. Pyramid and Morgan Stanley Real Estate acquired CHR’s eight luxury resort properties in Arizona, California, Florida and Hawaii aggregating 5,506 rooms.
“We are delighted to participate in this transaction with our partners at Morgan Stanley Real Estate, which significantly expands our on-going relationship with them,” said Richard Kelleher, chief executive officer, Pyramid Advisors. “The resort properties represent some of the industry’s most significant and irreplaceable hospitality real estate.”
The acquired resorts include:
The 950-room JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz.
The 279-room Claremont Resort & Spa, Berkeley, Calif.
- more -
Acquires CNL Portfolio
Page 2
The 584-room Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes and the 998-room JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, both in Orlando, Fla.
Three hotels in Hilton’s Waldorf=Astoria Collection, the 738-room Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz., the 796-room La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, Calif., and the 780-room Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, Hawaii.
Pyramid Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley Real Estate will own and asset manage the portfolio. Both firms currently also participate in and co-manage investment funds with approximately $2.5 billion of hospitality real estate throughout the United States.
Pyramid Advisors is a full-service, privately-owned hotel company based in Boston. Pyramid is a hospitality property manager, asset manager and project manager with approximately 50 properties under ownership, property management or asset management, totaling more than $7 billion in asset value. For more information about Pyramid Advisors, please visit www.pyramidadvisors.com.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Coachella Music Festival April 27-29
It's that time of year again! Coachella Music Festival is aproaching rapidly. This year's lineup includes Red Hot Chili Peppers & Rage Against the Machine just to name a few.
For more information check out the official web site for Coachella
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Where Desert Golf Was Born!!!!!
Ben Hogan once was quoted as saying "golf in the California desert would never work" There are over a 100 golf courses in the Coachella Valley today. The pioneer and the first 18 hole golf course in the Coachella Valley was Thunderbird CC located in Rancho Mirage. Thunderbird became an instant haven for celebrities, politicians, and socialites. Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Bing Crosby, Nixon, Ford, and Eisenhower are just some of the names to have graced the fairways at Thunderbird Country Club.
In 1954 Ford liked the name and logo so much that they adopted the name and logo for their sports car.
The electric golf cart was invented for members at Thunderbird CC by Eddie Susalla.
Thunderbird County Club is filled with history and nostalgia that any golf aficionado could appreciate.
Thunderbird is a private club.
Vacant Land in PGA West
Every time you cruise down PGA Blvd you look off to the side and see an empty space. Question is what is going there and how long is it going to take?
Here are some links to web sites regarding the issue that I found useful.
In the mean time the land makes a great parking lot during the Bob Hope.
Monday, March 5, 2007
Zillow & Zestimates
Zillow has been taking a lot of heat from Real Estate professionals and people selling their homes in general. A great site for a curious voyeur who wants to know what the neighbors house is worth. There has been too many inaccuracies on pricing.
The CEO and founder of Zillow started Expedia with the goal of eliminating the travel agent. Much controversy came about with Zillow as if they were trying to eliminate the real estate professional.. Zillow insists that it's business model is strictly geared towards advertising revenue. Only a real estate professional can give you an accurate value as to what your home is worth. There are just too many factors to consider that a computer can't generate. Although I do find it amusing to go on Zillow and search different areas. Zillow is working on fixing all these inaccuracies.
There is also a make me move tool which homeowners can list a dream price that would make them move.
Let me know your thoughts on Zillow
The CEO and founder of Zillow started Expedia with the goal of eliminating the travel agent. Much controversy came about with Zillow as if they were trying to eliminate the real estate professional.. Zillow insists that it's business model is strictly geared towards advertising revenue. Only a real estate professional can give you an accurate value as to what your home is worth. There are just too many factors to consider that a computer can't generate. Although I do find it amusing to go on Zillow and search different areas. Zillow is working on fixing all these inaccuracies.
There is also a make me move tool which homeowners can list a dream price that would make them move.
Let me know your thoughts on Zillow
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