Warner Springs Ranch sells to San Diego-based hotel management company

WARNER SPRINGS - The Warner Springs Ranch resort was sold at auction to a San Diego-based hotel management company and will undergo renovations, the buyer announced today.

Pacific Hospitality Group said it will spend $15 million to $18 million to complete the acquisition of the 2,400-acre property in northeastern San Diego County.

The company announced it would spend up to $50 million more to fix up the resort, which went into bankruptcy and closed last year.

The property, which was founded as a working ranch in the mid-1800s and opened as a resort in the 1920s, currently encompasses a 27,000-square-foot main lodge, 250 casita units, a 144-acre golf course and club house, four tennis courts, equestrian facilities, two restaurants, a spa, campgrounds, three swimming pools, a private airport and meeting facilities.

The new owner said it will upgrade the golf course, with an eye toward completion in the spring next year.

Plans also call for a new winery and tasting room, a gym and fitness facility, a beach and tennis club, expanded meeting facilities, cattle and horse grazing, a spa, a cultural center, luxury RV park, hunting and fishing opportunities, and expanded food and beverage options.

The casitas and main lodge will also be upgraded and renovated, PHG announced.

U-T San Diego reported that the auction sale dashed plans by the Pala Band of Mission Indians to purchase the resort, which they say sits on its ancestral lands.