Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota gets new owner in $171M deal

SARASOTA — A Dallas-based hospitality company will purchase the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota for $171 million, the Texas firm announced Friday.

The company, Ashford Hospitality Prime Inc., says it finalized an agreement to purchase the resort property, at 1111 Ritz-Carlton Drive, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The sale is expected to close in April, the release adds.

“The acquisition of the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota is an opportunity for us to acquire a luxury resort property with a premier location in the upscale and growing Sarasota market,” Ashford Prime CEO Richard Stockton says in the release.

The 266-room Ritz-Carlton property was constructed along the bayfront in 2001.

Ashford Prime also announced it has agreed to buy a 22-acre parcel of land adjacent to the resort's golf course in Lakewood Ranch, north of Sarasota County and east of Interstate 75. The price of that acquisition is $9.7 million.