Tamytha Cameron
There’s a flurry of activity on the bricks on Camp Bowie in the run up to the highly-anticipated opening of The Crescent Hotel, John Goff’s $250 million development just west of downtown.
This week, Canyon Ranch, the resort and spa backed by Goff’s Crescent Real Estate, announced a long-term partnership with VICI Properties, the New York-based entertainment company that owns Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, among others.
In a press release, the two entities said that VICI was making a new $150 million investment in Canyon Ranch. That is in addition to the $200 VICI made last year to build a Canyon Ranch spa resort in the Texas Hill Country.
In addition to those investments, VICI is also providing new financing for Canyon Ranch legacy resorts in Tucson and Lennox, Massachusetts, the Dallas Morning News reported.
“We are thrilled to partner with the expertise and capital resources of VICI,” said Goff, the chairman of Crescent Real Estate and Canyon Ranch, in a statement. “This partnership offers Canyon Ranch the potential to accelerate our growth in an ‘asset light’ manner, growing our reach and expertise. VICI shares our vision for growth and our confidence that the current environment is a compelling time to invest.”
The total is about a half billion dollars from VICI, Goff said, “but the real intent is to deploy several billion dollars with us — that’s our hope,” he told the DMN.
New Canyon Ranch Wellness Clubs are planned in more than a dozen locations, along with additional resorts in Florida, the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast.
Canyon Ranch is a “pioneer in destination wellness.”
The inaugural Wellness Club will open this fall in Fort Worth, with a Houston location in the summer of 2024, and the Canyon Ranch Austin resort opens in 2025.
The Canyon Ranch Austin development will be located on a Hill Country ranch on the shores of Lake Travis. It was designed by Lake/Flato Architects. The two Canyon Ranch Wellness Clubs in development in Fort Worth and Houston will be membership-based only. They will include state-of-the-art fitness, luxurious spa facilities, lounges and coworking spaces, and lectures and events.
“Over the last forty years, Canyon Ranch has been meeting people where they are in their pursuit of wellness,” said Canyon Ranch CEO Jeff Kuster in a statement. “That may mean a relaxing, fun-filled weekend or a deep dive into something impactful and life-changing. With VICI's support, we can broaden and deepen Canyon Ranch's geographical and digital offerings and support more people than ever before.”
In addition to Caesars Palace, VICI also owns MGM Grand and the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. The real estate investment trust also has casinos, hotels, golf courses, restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment facilities nationwide. The company's portfolio consists of 43 gaming facilities, but it has a growing array of investments in non-gaming experiential operators, including, of course, Canyon Ranch, Great Wolf Resorts, and Chelsea Piers.
“We seek to invest in experiential real estate centered on experiences benefitting from longer-term secular tailwinds,” said VICI Properties CEO Edward Pitoniak. “We believe wellness is one of the most powerful trends of our time, and Canyon Ranch is the global brand best positioned for capitalizing on the growing demand for wellness and life enhancement around the world.”