Windwalker owner buys a pair of Vineyard hotels
BY MARY LANCASTER
Windwalker Real Estate owner Alan Worden is continuing to build his property portfolio with the new addition of two grand Vineyard hotels.

The Harbor View Hotel, above, and the Kelley House, combined, are assessed at more than $34 million.

By the end of this year, Worden will close on the purchases of the Harbor View Hotel and Kelley House, both within walking distance of each other in Edgartown. The properties are being bought by Scout Real Estate Capital LLC, an affiliate entity owned by Worden which is separate from Windwalker. He said there are no outside investors involved in the transaction.

The hotels comprise 16 buildings with a combined total of 190 rooms. Each has its own restaurant. Though the properties are reportedly assessed at more than $34 million, Worden would not disclose his offer made to current owner, First Winthrop Corporation.

Winthrop divested of nearly all its Nantucket properties last year in two differ- ent transactions with Stephen Karp, who paid $74.5 million for the majority of the island's downtown retail parcels and previously bought Nantucket's main hotels. Worden said the Harbor View and Kelley House represent Winthrop's last holdings on Martha's Vineyard. Winthrop bought them at a foreclosure auction in 1989 for $13 million.

Worden said the year-round Harbor View, which opened in 1891 and faces the entrance to Edgartown Harbor and Edgartown Lighthouse, was recently voted the best hotel on the Vineyard by Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard magazines. The oldest of six buildings at the Kelley House dates to 1742 when it was a tavern. That property is now a pub and guest quarters. He plans to elevate the level of offered services at both inns.

Worden said he treasures historic structures and takes pride in preserving their integrity. Both hotels will be renovated during the off-season over the course of two winters. Worden is employing restoration specialists from Sturbridge Village and Hart Howerton of New York City, a world renowned resort planning and landscape architecture firm.

He also intends to retain Richard McAuliffe, who for many years has served as general manager of both hotels.

"The focus of Scout is to find great resort locations, to lead great teams of professionals, to be extremely sensitive to neighbors and municipalities where we invest and to ultimately create communities which respond to the needs of leisure-focused baby boomers," said Worden.

This August, an affiliate of Scout bought 6,000 acres of land with more than two miles of ocean frontage on the main island of Hawaii. Worden said he plans to build an environmentally

protective, large lot residential development there. In March, Windwalker Bermuda LLC bought Southampton Beach Resort, Ltd. holding Bermuda's 252-room Wyndham Resort and Spa. He is working to transform that 32-acre property into a luxury, five-star destination with a recreation club, timeshare units and residential area.

Worden, who is also vice-president of The Westmoor Club, was sailing master for Nantucket Yacht Club in 1988 and moved permanently to the island at Christmas 2002. Windwalker Real Estate opened in March 2003.

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