Tubac golf resort sold for $36M

The 67-year-old resort sits on 500 acres of the historic Otero Ranch, about 45 miles south of Tucson. It has 98 rooms, 17 private casitas, a full-service spa and a 27-hole golf course.

The $36 million sale was made Oct. 23 to TBC Hideaway LLC, Records from the Santa Cruz County Recorder’s Office show.

Gantry, an independent commercial banking firm, secured the loan on behalf of the buyer. Adam Parker and Andrew Christopherson, with Gantry’s Phoenix office, handled the loan.

“Tubac is a Four Diamond resort with a storied history as both a golf course and a wellness retreat,” Parker said. “From the moment I learned about the request, I knew the asset was special.”

The new owner plans upgrades to the resort, but exact plans have not yet been disclosed.

Historic records show the resort’s land was granted to a Don Toribio de Otero by the Spanish monarchy in the 1789 as the first land grant in the territory known as Pimería Alta.

He developed a homestead, farm and planted fruit trees that provided local soldiers with supplies.

Pimería Alta became part of the United States with the 1853 Gadsden Purchase, signed by President Franklin Pierce.

The purchase changed the nation’s border with Mexico and Otero’s land became part of Arizona.

Over the years, parcels of the land were sold off, but Otero’s original farmhouse was saved.

In 1959, a group of businessmen headed by singer, actor and avid golfer Bing Crosby, bought the property and developed it into what is today, the Tubac Golf Resort and Spa.

It has had different owners over the years.

In 1996, director Ron Shelton shot a portion of his film, Tin Cup, on that golf course.

The resort is listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Historic Hotels of America.