Saskatoon’s Bessborough Hotel under new ownership
Saskatoon’s landmark hotel, the Delta Bessborough is now under new ownership. The British Columbia Investment Corporation (bcIMC) took ownership of the historic hotel on February 1 but just announced the acquisition recently.
The new owners took a pass on disclosing the purchase price but did indicate that they plan on investing an additional million dollars in “upgrades” to be completed this year.
The Bessborough Hotel was built between 1928 and 1932 by the Canadian National Railway. A severely depressed economy delayed the hotel’s opening until late in 1935 when its first guest was welcomed. The Baltzan family acquired the hotel in 1972 and eventually passed control to Canadian Pacific Hotels in the 1980’s. It was purchased by the Legacy Hotels Real Estate Investment Trust in 1998 and a $9,000,000 restoration project, intended to reclaim many of the hotel’s historical features was undertaken in 1999. The 225 room four star hotel graces the west bank of the South Saskatchewan River in downtown Saskatoon.
bcIMC manages a pension fund which finances retirement benefits of some public employees in British Columbia including health-care workers, firefighters and teachers. They also own the Radisson Hotel and the Saskatoon Inn. With all three hotels in their portfolio they’ve got quite a handle on the upper end market in Saskatoon.
Any guesses on the price tag of this magnificent piece of Saskatoon?
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Norm Fisher
Royal LePage Saskatoon Real Estate
13 comments so far. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Mostly, I wonder what these people were thinking as they tried to use real estate as their personal, get-rich-quick
May 20th, 2009 at 1:09 PM
The old Bessborough delivered a Canadian Moment.
Early coffee on a bitterly cold pre-dawn Saskatchewan morning. The grande dame’s beautiful gardens with stately pines were almost obscured by the rising steam of the river. As the sun began it’s day, the fog of frozen vapor particles captured the sun’s light converting to millions of mini rainbows. For a few brief moments, it seemed as if fairy-dust was sprinkled over the garden.
Perhaps the new ownership will spread more of their fairy-dust and put some life into the old girl.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:09 PM
Larry,
It’s still a charming old place. The 1999 reno really brought it back. Are you from this area?
John,
Yes, it seems unfair that they’re actually thinking about “retirement” while the rest of us slave on. Teachers and firefighters are so greedy.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Norm,
Nope a BC guy. But spent a lot of time in Sask. Best steak in town was John’s.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Larry,
You know I’ve never had dinner there. Been in several times for lunch and I can vouch for the steak sandwich. I’ll have to get there for dinner one of these nights.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:10 PM
Hi Norm,
How’s $77M sound to you?
May 20th, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Carl,
Are you guessing or do you know?
Honestly, I haven’t got the foggiest idea. This is not the type of real estate that I’m very familiar with at all.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Norm, that was just a guess.
225 rooms @ 90% occupancy @ 250 rack rate @ 3.5-4.5 times multipe. All are shoot-from-the-hip assumptions.
Then there’s the good ‘ol Coke Bottle Multiplier which pegs value at 100,000 x the price of a Mini Bar/Floor Vending machine Coke x the # of rooms. Using that theory we hit about $45M.
If ya wanted to get all technicnal N stuff, I guess you could use one of many income approaches…but that’s not nearly as fun to talk about at cocktail parties.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:12 PM
Thanks Carl.
I have forgotten all of the formulas used to determine the value of these types of properties as i focus solely on residential. Love the coke bottle multiplier.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:15 PM
It was a year ago this week that I stayed at The Bess. Fabulous place. Hope to get back some day.
And how is it that I’ve had dinner at John’s and you haven’t Norm?
May 20th, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Jay,
Hmmm. That is kind of odd isn’t it? I guess I have to get that place on my list.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Hey Norm,
Just had lunch with a fellow from Edmonton who works with Graham construction and he said that the buzz around the office was that the Bessborough in Saskatoon is going to be undergoing extensive renovations to become high end condo units. I hadn’t heard anything about this, and quite frankly it doesn’t make much sense to me. Have you heard any rumours about this?
May 20th, 2009 at 1:28 PM
Hi Jason,
Hmmm. I guess anything is possible but that story is certainly inconsistent with what bcIMC has said. They indicate that they are planning to remain with the Delta chain and I expect that will involve some kind of a contract term.