Photo / Courtesy Daigle Commercial Group
Amenities include a heated outdoor saltwater pool, tennis/pickleball court, shuffleboard, indoor/outdoor breakfast area and gardens.
January 13, 2025
Lafayette Hotels continues expansion with Ogunquit resort deal
Photo / Courtesy Daigle Commercial Group
The listing of the Sparhawk Oceanfront Resort in Ogunquit generated seven strong offers within 10 days of being posted.
Lafayette Hotels, a family-owned and -operated group of more than 30 hotels across Maine and New Hampshire, acquired the Sparhawk Oceanfront Resort, its fourth property in Ogunquit.
The purchase price was not disclosed. The list price was $31 million.
Moores Sparhawk Corp. sold the property, at 85 Shore Road, with Roger Daigle and Benjamin Kramer of Daigle Commercial Group representing the seller.
“We were able to generate seven very strong offers within 10 days of announcing its availability,” Daigle told Mainebiz.”That’s remarkable.”
The resort consists of a number of buildings with a total of 89 units, plus amenities, on 4.64 acres of ocean frontage, according to the offering summary. One structure dates back to 1800 and was converted to hotel units in 1999. Another was built around 1900 and the rest in the 1960s through 1980s. The design is New England clapboard.
Amenities include a heated outdoor saltwater pool, tennis and pickleball courts, shuffleboard, indoor/outdoor breakfast area and gardens.
The property was marketed as a turn-key, well-established, premier resort providing an immediate revenue stream, with an upside opportunity to capitalize on the growing tourism industry in Ogunquit and marketing opportunities to attract new guests and drive revenue growth.
The seller, the Moores family, had owned the resort for more than 45 years, said Daigle.
“It’s a very special property and it has a very loyal following” with the grandchildren of early guests now visiting, Daigle said.
1031 exchange
The deal was part of a chain of 1031 transactions.
A 1031, or “like-kind” real estate exchange named after its IRS section code, allows an investor to put off capital gains tax from a sale by investing the money in a similar property.
The chain started with the sale of a development site and permits in Kittery. The same day, the seller of the Kittery site, Shiva Natarajan, invested the proceeds into the off-market purchase of the Breakwater Inn in Kennebunkport from Lafayette Hotel Groups. Natarajan owns a restaurant and inn, Mabel's Lobster Claw, that neighbors the Breakwater, said Daigle, who facilitated the transactions.
Lafayette had indicated that they did not need the 1031 exchange in order to buy the Sparhawk, but the timing was such that the group was able utilize the 1031 program to invest the proceeds from the Breakwater sale into its acquisition of the Sparhawk.
Lafayette in Maine
Lafayette’s other hotels in Ogunquit are Aspinquid Resort, Seacastles and Norseman Resort, according to its website.
The group has six properties further east along the coast in Old Orchard Beach: the Edgewater, the Gull, Kebek 3 Motel, Sea View Inn, Waves Oceanfront Resorts and the Ocean House.
Elsewhere in Maine, the group’s properties include Lafayette’s Oceanfront Resort in Wells Beach, Beach House Inn in Kennebunk, Best Western Merry Manor Inn in South Portland and Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.
In Boothbay Harbor, it owns the Boothbay Harbor Inn, Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Resort, Fisherman’s Wharf Inn and Tugboat Inn.
It owns Fireside Inn & Suites in Belfast, Portland, Waterville and Bangor; the Senator Inn & Spa in Augusta, Best Western White House Inn in Bangor, and in Bar Harbor, Bluenose Inn and Wonder View Inn.
Upside
The $31 million listing price reflected in part the property’s location.
“It’s a four-plus-acre footprint with ocean frontage,” Daigle said.
Adding to the value were its turnkey condition and well-established reputation in the market.
“Most industry people know the Sparhawk has a stellar reputation: They’re booked sometimes a year or a year-and-a-half in advance,” Daigle said.
The listing also reflected comparable prices in the area.
Two Ogunquit properties sold as a package about a year ago to Massachusetts-based Giri Hotel Management for a price that was “north of $35 million,” Daigle said at the time. Daigle brokered that transaction as well.
In 2023, Giri acquired the 249-room Anchorage by the Sea in Ogunquit for a price that was “likely the highest” of a hotel ever in Maine, Earle Wason, president of Wason Associates Hospitality Real Estate in Portsmouth, N.H., said at the time.
The Sparhawk leaves some room for upside, Daigle said.
“There was upside potential in the rate structure,” he said.
He continued, “They’ve maintained the property very well, but it can be taken to the next level. The new owners intend to do that over time. Nothing will change for this upcoming season.”
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