Anonymous
By StonePark Capital
StonePark Capital is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of The Waterman, a 31-room hotel, located in the Funk Zone neighborhood of Santa Barbara, California, at 12 E. Montecito Street. Built in 2014, The Waterman has been a welcome addition to the region, offering visitors a unique lifestyle hospitality option. The property features stylishly fun guest rooms and lively common areas, including a swimming pool and an outdoor gathering area directly on State Street.
Midway through a transition from an independently branded hotel, The Waterman will join Moxy Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 30 extraordinary brands. This transition will take approximately 12 months as the StonePark team completes upgrades to the common areas and guest rooms that will elevate the visitor experience even further. The hotel will remain open throughout the upgrades, which are expected to be complete by Summer 2023.
“As native Santa Barbarans, Jess and I have a good understanding of the long-term vision for Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, and how this unique property adds to this growing community,” shared Andrew Firestone, Principal of StonePark Capital. “We are looking forward to being good stewards of this property, and helping maintain the balance between tourism and local flavor that makes Santa Barbara such an incredible place to live and visit.”
The Waterman represents the first of two Marriott projects for StonePark Capital in Santa Barbara, with the 122-room “Courtyard by Marriott” at 1601 State Street anticipated to open this fall. StonePark Capital has teamed up with Azul Hospitality Group to oversee the management of both of these hotels.
“We are very excited to continue to expand our relationship with StonePark Capital in their “backyard” of Santa Barbara,” shared Mark Crisci, Principal of Azul Hospitality Group. “A key tenet of the Azul platform is our ability to differentiate our portfolio by infusing creative experiences and offerings to our guests. The Waterman and its eventual inclusion into the Moxy brand will be a great opportunity to showcase creative market-driven offerings resulting from strong collaboration between StonePark as owner and Azul as manager.”
About StonePark Capital
Santa Barbara-based StonePark Capital is a hospitality development company led by local residents Jess Parker and Andrew Firestone. The company has developed or acquired six hospitality projects totaling over 500 rooms and 300,000 square feet in California, including three hotels in downtown Santa Barbara. Visit stoneparkcapital.com.
We stayed at the Waterman recently. It was surprisingly quiet. But if a Firestone is involved, we will find another place to stay. I will not support Trumpers.
Having the Firestone family involved in this is great news for everyone. They are successful for many reasons, but mainly because they are such good folks. For many many years they have quietly provided funds to support county schools (countless computers/laptops/etc.), special-education programs, monies for the blind and hearing impaired, animal shelters/sanctuaries/rehab, many millions in grants and scholarships to needy and underserved families/communities….the list of their philanthropy and positive community deeds is almost endless. The only other local folks that I am aware of who come close are Pam & Karl (RIP) Lopker (QAD software), who very quietly gave, gave, and gave to our community for at least 30 years that I am aware of. I hope the hotel is a complete success and wish the Firestone’s a long and healthy/wealthy future. LOVE their Union Jack, 805, but not much of a wine drinker as I cannot tell the diff between good wine and bad wine (if I like the taste, then I believe it is good wine, regardless of cost).
We need more folks who walk the walk like the Lopker’s and Firestone’s.