A Long Island real estate investment firm is the new owner of Danfords Hotel & Marina in Port Jefferson.
The Crest Group, headquartered in Port Jefferson Station, just bought the popular hospitality property from Wilton, Conn.-based Westport Property Management. Actual terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Crest Group Managing Partner Enrico Scarda told LIBN the price was in “the low $20 million range.”
Scarda said his group plans to “return Danfords to its former glory” through extensive renovations.
“Over the course of the next few years, we will be investing millions of dollars into the property and I am convinced that the customer experience will surpass even the highest of expectations,” said Scarda, a former yacht manufacturer who lives in nearby Belle Terre. “It’s going to be fantastic.”
Scarda also serves as CEO of Matrix Realty Group, a major Long Island owner and manager of commercial property. Scarda assumed the helm at Matrix after the tragic death of former partner Glen Nelson, who was killed in a car accident in December 2015.
Established in 1986 as the Danfords Inn, some of the buildings on the property date back to the 1800s, when they were used for Port Jefferson’s once bustling shipbuilding trade. The wide-planked wooden floor in the lobby of the hotel actually came from an old sailing ship.
Danfords features 86 guest rooms, 12 banquet rooms, a restaurant, lounge and 75-slip marina.Westport Capital Partners bought the property at the end of 2006 after Danfords emerged from bankruptcy. The former owners spent about $8 million on an interior and exterior facelift of the facility in 2008.
Jose Alvarez of Summit, N.J.-based JCA Realty Capital brokered the sale.
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