Dallas firm plans renovation of Westwood's Doubletree.

A Dallas firm has the Doubletree hotel in Westwood under contract and plans a major renovation of the property.

Earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge ruled that Realty America Group Inc. could buy the 294-room hotel for $33 million from Lawrence, Kan.-based Linquist & Craig Hotels & Resorts Inc., which filed Chapter 11 in October 2004.

The price works out to $111,500 per room, considered relatively low for a prime Westside location. That's because the property--at 10740 Wilshire Blvd.--is on ground owned by Beverly Hills-based Walter Co., which leases the land to the hotel.

Under the deal approved by the court, Realty America would either pay the amount and be assigned the property's ground lease or Linquist & Craig could elect to keep a 15 percent stake in the property.

Kip Sowden, managing partner of Realty America Group, expects to close on the purchase of the hotel in three to four weeks. "We anticipate a major renovation of the building," Sowden said. "We plan on turning it into a four- or five-star hotel, which we believe will be well received in the community."

Sources said that Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc., which doesn't have an L.A. location yet, will manage the property under its Hotel Palomar brand.

Realty America Group has hired Kimpton to manage a property under the Palomar flag that it's renovating in Dallas. While Sowden said the firm has close ties with Kimpton, no management contract for the hotel has been signed.

"We are looking at doing quite a few deals with Kimpton," Sowden said. "They are one of the best hotel operators in the county, and we would be fools not to consider them."

Kimpton spokeswoman Allison Goldstein said she couldn't confirm whether the company may take over the property, but she said that San Francisco-based Kimpton has its sights on Los Angeles. "L.A. is a major target for Kimpton's future growth," Goldstein said.

Nearby Westwood Village has already proven to be a solid location for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s W Hotel, where the property commands some of the highest room rates and occupancy levels in the area.

"Going to a high-end boutique hotel is definitely a plus," said Alan X. Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group Inc., a Costa Mesa hotel brokerage and consultancy. "When you look at how well the W Hotel has done there, this seems like a natural."

Hotel tracking firm PKF Consulting reported that through September, rooms in West Los Angeles were, on average, fetching $194 a night, an 8.4 percent improvement for the like period a year earlier. Average occupancy through September was 78.9 percent, a 2.6 percent increase from the year-ago period.