Hotel mogul spins off building unit

Los Angeles hotel, nightclub and restaurant mogul Sam Nazarian has spun off the real estate development arm of his company SBE so it can build projects for other investors.

The new subsidiary, called Dakota Development, will continue to develop projects for SBE, Nazarian said, while also doing planning, development and construction management for third parties.

Dakota, which is based in Los Angeles, will also form a new single-family residential division that will buy, build and renovate high-end estates. The company has performed residential work in the past, building condominiums and villas at SBE hotel and resort properties.

Heading Dakota as president is Joe Faust, who leads SBE’s hotel, casino, residential, restaurant and nightclub development operations. Projects Dakota has completed for SBE include hotels in Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, Hollywood and South Beach. It also developed restaurants Katsuya by Starck and Cleo.

Dakota has its name because Faust is from South Dakota. “Sam says I am his common-sense, no-nonsense Midwesterner,” Faust said.

Current Dakota projects include Nazarian’s SLS brand hotels in Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Washington, D.C., in the U.S.; Cancun and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico; and Nassau, the Bahamas. Dakota is also working on SBE’s planned new hotel brand, Hyde Hotels and Resorts, which is to have more than 25 locations in five years.

Dakota clients include Los Angeles developer CIM Group, San Francisco investment management firm Stockbridge and Swiss financial services company Credit Suisse Group.