Apr. 20, 2005 - The luxury hotel and spa that Dole Food Co. Inc. is building near its Westlake Village corporate headquarters will be managed by one of the country's most prominent operators of upscale vacation resorts, the company announced Tuesday.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, operator of the Santa Barbara Biltmore and 64 other high-end hotel properties worldwide, signed a letter of intent with Dole subsidiary Westlake Wellbeing Properties LLC to manage the hotel, which is being built in conjunction with a multimillion-dollar wellness center and spa. The complex is located on 20 acres across from Dole's offices at Lindero Canyon Road and Via Colinas.

The project is scheduled to be completed next spring.

The 750,000-square-foot development will include a six-story hotel with 270 rooms and suites, the health center and spa, a television production center to produce programming for a food channel that Dole plans to launch next year, restaurants and shops and a four-level parking garage, including one underground level.

Approved by the Westlake Village City Council last year, the project is expected to add $1 million annually to about $600,000 generated each year by the city's 10 percent hotel bed tax.

Dole Chairman and CEO David H. Murdock, who took the $5.3 billion fresh produce production and marketing company private last year, has said the project "will meet five-star requirements" and be a world class resort.

Dole spokeswoman Freya Maneki declined Tuesday to divulge the projected cost.

However, documents filed to obtain building permits indicate the total will be at least $81 million � $67 million for the hotel and health center and $14 million for the parking garage, said George Osborne, a district engineering associate for the Los Angeles County Building and Safety Department in Calabasas.

Under the agreement, Four Seasons also will manage two hotels and golf resorts on the Hawaiian island of Lanai operated by Castle & Cooke Resorts LLC, also a Dole subsidiary.

The resorts are near a wellness center under construction that is to be similar to the one in Westlake Village. ARCUs Enterprises Inc., a new business development company owned by WellPoint Inc., the giant Indianapolis-based health coverage provider, is investing in both health facilities and will operate them in partnership with Dole, according to Dole.

"It has long been my belief that Dole and its affiliated companies can play a crucial role in helping consumers eat better and thus lead longer, healthier and more vital lives," Murdock said in a statement. "I look forward to working with WellPoint and Four Seasons in this unique development."

The Westlake Village complex is expected to have more than 600 employees. The wellbeing center and medical facilities are to be state of the art with physicians on site providing diagnostic and outpatient recuperative services, a full-service spa and fitness center, a conference center and the television production facility, the company said.

Dole is the world's biggest producer of fresh fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. The company also markets a growing line of packaged and frozen foods and conducts extensive research in nutrition education.

Four Seasons has 65 hotels and resorts in 28 countries, including 34 in the United States. Besides the Santa Barbara Biltmore, its Southern California properties include the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills and the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

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