5 minute read
After an encounter at a local institution, Gwyn Lurie asks, have we no shame?
from Not For Sale
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Nicholas Schou is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of several books, including Orange Sunshine and Kill the Messenger. If you have tips or stories about Montecito, please email him at newseditor@montecitojournal.net
‘No Impending Sale’:
Ty Warner Puts End to Rumors About Montecito Properties
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In an exclusive interview with the Montecito Journal, Ty Warner, Montecito resident, Beanie Baby creator, and billionaire owner of the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore, the Montecito Lower garden area of the Stonehouse Restaurant
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Club, and the San Ysidro Ranch, said he had no plans to sell any of his local properties, all of which except the San Ysidro Ranch have remained closed due to COVID-19 concerns.
Last week, the Journal reported that Montecito’s Board of Architectural Review voted to approve Warner’s plans to make exterior improvements to the Coral Casino. The proposed project was being planned amid rumors that Warner might sell the property.
Warner denied the rumors flatly. “There is no impending sale,” Warner said in a July 31 interview with the Journal. “There is no chance in my lifetime that any property I have in California is going to be sold – absolutely none.”
Though Warner closed three of his properties for the duration of the corona
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virus pandemic, he said it was not evidence of any desire to unload the properties, but rather that he was being cautious about reopening. Warner added: “The reason they are closed should not be a problem for anyone to understand. I do not want to take the risk for them to open or to be sued or have any liability were something to happen.” Meanwhile, Warner said he was using the property closures as an opportunity to reinvest in them, as evidenced by the proposed improvements being planned for the Coral Casino. Warner has a well-known history of investing heavily in his Montecito properties. He purchased the Four Seasons in 2000 for $150 million and then promptly spent more than $240 million for massive upgrades. In 2005, Warner invested $65 million to vastly overhaul the dilap/moc.sbu ollagtrehpotsirhc/sf idated Coral Casino. Ten years later, he shut down the Montecito Club for a three-year, $75 million remodel. /moc.sbu ollagtrehpotsirhc/sf “We would not be doing all these things if I was going to sell the properties. htob sreffo .cnI secivreS laicnaniF SBU ,stneilc ot secivres tnemeganam htlaew gnidivorp mrfi a sA There are no plans to sell the Montecito Club, the Coral Casino, or the Four secivres egarekorb dna secivres yrosivda tnemtsevnI .secivres egarekorb dna secivres yrosivda tnemtsevni Seasons Biltmore,” Warner explained, expressing irritation about the speculaetarapes dna swal tnereffid yb denrevog era dna syaw lairetam ni reffid ,tcnitsid dna etarapes era taht dna ssenisub tcudnoc ew hcihw ni syaw eht dnatsrednu stneilc taht tnatropmi si tI .stnemegnarra ro stcudorp eht tuoba meht ot edivorp ew taht serusolcsid dna stnemeerga eht daer ylluferac yeht ta tnemucod FDP eht weiver esaelp ,noitamrofni erom roF .reffo ew secivres .suhtiwgnikrow/moc.sbu PFC skram noitacfiitrec eht snwo .cnI sdradnatS fo draoB rennalP laicnaniF defiitreC ® DEIFITREC dna RENNALP LAICNANIF ™ .S.U eht ni AMIC ® htlaeW dna stnemtsevnI eht fo kram noitacfiitrec deretsiger a si htob sreffo .cnI secivreS laicnaniF SBU ,stneilc ot secivres tnemeganam htlaew gnidivorp mrfi a sA secivres egarekorb dna secivres yrosivda tnemtsevnI .secivres egarekorb dna secivres yrosivda tnemtsevni etarapes dna swal tnereffid yb denrevog era dna syaw lairetam ni reffid ,tcnitsid dna etarapes era taht dna ssenisub tcudnoc ew hcihw ni syaw eht dnatsrednu stneilc taht tnatropmi si tI .stnemegnarra ro stcudorp eht tuoba meht ot edivorp ew taht serusolcsid dna stnemeerga eht daer ylluferac yeht tions. “I’m having breakfast and pick up the newspaper and I am like, ‘Where is this coming from?’” Although Warner is notorious for rarely speaking to the press, he insisted he isn’t that hard to track down. “It’s not like nobody can find me,” he said. .ediwdlrow dna aciremA fo setatS detinU eht ni ,ACMI ylremrof ,etutitsnI .devreser sthgir llA .0202 SBU© .CPIS/ARNIF rebmeM .GA SBU fo yraidisbus a si .cnI secivreS laicnaniF SBU BDF2FD75-SBU-D ta tnemucod FDP eht weiver esaelp ,noitamrofni erom roF .reffo ew secivres .suhtiwgnikrow/moc.sbu PFC skram noitacfiitrec eht snwo .cnI sdradnatS fo draoB rennalP laicnaniF defiitreC ® DEIFITREC dna ON THE RECORD Page 444 MONTECITO JOURNAL6 “I think clever people think that poor people are stupid.” – Norm MacDonald RENNALP LAICNANIF ™ .S.U eht ni AMIC ® htlaeW dna stnemtsevnI eht fo kram noitacfiitrec deretsiger a si .ediwdlrow dna aciremA fo setatS detinU eht ni ,ACMI ylremrof ,etutitsnI .devreser sthgir llA .0202 SBU© 6 – 13 August 2020 .CPIS/ARNIF rebmeM .GA SBU fo yraidisbus a si .cnI secivreS laicnaniF SBU BDF2FD75-SBU-D
