Real estate firm Blue Flag Partners acquired the 94-room Beachside hotel on North Beach Street in Nantucket, Mass. Terms were not disclosed. The company also has hired New York-based boutique hotel operator Life House to manage the day-to-day operations of the hotel.
Originally built in 1966, The Beachside encompasses a 3.5-acre campus in Nantucket’s Brant Point neighborhood and has one of the five hotel pools on the entire island. The 50-year-old hotel is close to Jetties Beach, downtown Nantucket and the Steamship Authority Nantucket Ferry Terminal.
The Beachside joins Blue Flag’s growing portfolio of hotels on Nantucket, which is currently comprised of the Faraway Nantucket on Center street (the former Roberts Collection); Life House, Nantucket on Cliff Road (the former Century House); Summer House at Fair Street; Pineapple Inn on Hussey Street; Hawthorn House on Chestnut Street; and the former Star of the Sea Hostel on Western Avenue. Blue Flag also owns and is in process of developing a master plan for the Kelley House hotel campus in Edgartown, Mass.
“Karen Keelan has done a tremendous job over her many years at the helm of the property, and we look forward to investing into its future," Blue Flag Managing Partner Jason Brown said in a statement. "Our goal is simple: to continue the hotel’s long tradition of offering exceptional hospitality in a prime location between town and some of the best beaches and restaurants on Nantucket.”
“I was not planning to sell the Beachside, but after speaking to Nantucket native Terry Sanford, and his partners Brad Guidi and Jason Brown, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to pass the torch to new owners who love the island and the property as much as I do,” Keelan said in a statement released by Blue Flag Partners. “Blue Flag has built a reputation locally as caring stewards of the assets they own and I hope our community of loyal guests and neighbors will welcome and support what is a season of renewal for us and this treasured property.”
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with the Blue Flag team through this significant single-asset transaction”, said Bryan Dunn, managing director at Life House. “At nearly 100 keys, The Beachside is the second largest hotel on the island and signals Life House’s white label operations management of larger and more complex hotels, after adding value to its real estate partners across dozens of smaller assets.”