The extreme makeover of the emerging South Beach section of the Grand Strand continues with the recent sale of one of the largest and most popular convention centers and hotels on the Myrtle Beach oceanfront.
Crown Reef Resort, featuring more than 500 rooms and a relatively new convention center, sold for $16 million to Legacy Business Solutions, which owns 13 other properties in the Vacation Myrtle Beach family. The group has a history of performing major upgrades to the hotels they have purchased in the past, and major upgrades would make it fit in better with the rapidly changing surroundings along South Beach.
Changing of the Crown — Photo courtesy of Crown Reef Resort
Located on the south end of Myrtle Beach, this stretch has lagged behind the north end in terms of new development. But the recent additions of the South Beach Resort - an exclusive development that adjoins the Crown Reef property - and the nearby Market Common entertainment, dining and shopping district, this section has seen a revitalization over the past decade.
So far, the new ownership group is tight-lipped about its future plans for Crown Reef. The hotel opened in 1985 but underwent a high-rise expansion around the time the convention center was added in 1999. The Crown Reef has long been a favorite among families and large groups who hold vacations/meetings at the Myrtle Beach mainstay.