The former Four Points Sheraton on Aero Drive in Kearny Mesa is in the middle of a dramatic transformation into The Goldfinch, a new Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel that will pair 223 redesigned guestrooms with a nine-hole golf course and an outdoor speakeasy-style bar. The hotel is staying open at reduced capacity while crews work, with completion targeted for sometime in 2027.
ALPS Group of Hotels bought the 20-acre property at 8110 Aero Drive in 2023 for $13 million, according to the San Diego Business Journal. The redevelopment includes 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space alongside the 223 renovated guestrooms. A separate Business Journal report on the property's sale had described it as a 224-room hotel, so the exact room count varies slightly depending on the source.
Beyond the rooms, the site includes a nine-hole golf course, a disc golf course and a detached 8,500-square-foot event space, per Level 3 Construction, the Carlsbad-based firm serving as general contractor on the project. San Diego-based Starck Architecture + Planning is the architect, the same report notes. Plans also call for a redesigned pool along with new dining and lounge concepts, including that outdoor speakeasy-style bar.
Perch and Solstice Join the Lineup
The hotel's new food and drink offerings will include a lobby bar called Perch, described as a spot for early birds and night owls alike, and a signature restaurant named Solstice featuring a premium South Asian-inspired menu, the Business Journal reports. Those additions sit alongside the broader push toward new dining and lounge concepts that Level 3 Construction has outlined for the property.
Construction crews are currently installing flooring and wall coverings, continuing bathroom renovations and working through the atrium, according to a project update from Level 3 Construction. The event space is already substantially complete, though final furnishings still need to be installed, the same update notes. The hotel is expected to remain operational at reduced capacity throughout the work.
When Will It Open
Sources differ on exactly when The Goldfinch will debut. Hotel Management reports the hotel is scheduled to reopen in early 2027, while the Business Journal cites an expected opening in the first quarter of 2027, and Level 3 Construction's own project page anticipates completion in late spring 2027. Axios similarly reported the hotel is set to open early next year.
Saahil Khandwala, owner and operator of ALPS Group of Hotels, is overseeing the project. ALPS was founded in 2000 by Khandwala's parents, Sapna and Sharad Khandwala, and the company has also renovated the Holiday Express & Suites in Carlsbad, according to Axios.
A Changing Kearny Mesa
Khandwala told the San Diego Business Journal that Kearny Mesa is San Diego's second-largest employment hub, trailing only the UTC-Sorrento Valley area. He also told Axios that the site's 20 acres factored into ALPS's decision to invest there. He also pointed to a shift underway in the neighborhood itself: Kearny Mesa has historically been known for office, industrial and commercial uses, but multifamily housing is now being built in the area.
That growing housing stock, Khandwala told Axios, is bringing more people into the neighborhood beyond the traditional workday and signals that Kearny Mesa is becoming more mixed-use. A City of San Diego planning document for the area discusses land use and transit-oriented growth. For now, the clearest signs of change remain on the ground at 8110 Aero Drive, where a once-standard airport-area Sheraton is being remade room by room into a golf-course hotel with its own hidden bar.
