The historic Hotel Durant has been bought for the third time in five years, this time by a Chicago real estate investment firm.

AJ Capital Partners, which bought the hotel, plans to include the building in its Graduate Hotel collection in 2016, along with other hotels located in prominent college towns. The self-described “counter-culture investors” are investors in Auberge Resorts, which owns Auberge du Soleil in Napa, California.

Hotel Durant, located at the corner of Durant Avenue and Bowditch Street, previously changed hands in 2012, when Gemstone Hotels & Resorts LLC acquired the hotel for $27.25 million from the Royal Bank of Scotland, which in turn had bought the hotel in 2011 after a previous owner defaulted. That owner, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, bought Hotel Durant for $14 million in 2007 and then spent $9 million in remodeling.

AJ Capital CEO Ben Weprin declined to state how much the hotel cost. In a press release, he said that he and his firm “look forward to being stewards of this Berkeley icon.”

The press release from AJ Capital also described a planned “soft goods renovation” of guest rooms and common areas, and an update to the menu of Henry’s, the iconic restaurant located in the hotel’s lobby. Gemstone LLC will continue to manage the hotel.

The 143-room Hotel Durant, named for founding UC president Henry Durant, opened in 1928 and cost $400,000 to build its initial structure. It was designated a “structure of merit” by the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1993.

Anthony Bruce, executive director of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, remembers visiting the hotel’s soda fountain for a treat when he was a toddler.

“It’s a hotel that has never gone downhill,” Bruce said. “It’s a good location, and it’s a good hotel, and I don’t think there’s ever been a period when it was down at the heels.”

In addition to being located close to campus, the hotel is within three blocks of the Unit 1, 2 and 3 residence halls on Southside.

Retired UC Davis professor Clarence Walker stood outside Hotel Durant during a hot evening. He said he regularly stayed at the hotel for its convenient proximity to campus and Downtown Berkeley.

“I like the charm of it,” Walker, who grew up in Berkeley, said. “It doesn’t have one of those ‘one of 10,000’ feel about it.”

Bruce said remodeling of historic locations tended to be a problem when an owner settled down for a long-term investment, either to modify original characteristics or to strip away previous remodels that had since become historic. He was not, however, alarmed by the frequent turnover of ownership.

“It all depends on if they own it long enough to get any major remodeling done,” Bruce said.

Contact Anna Sturla at [email protected].

Correction(s):

Because of misinformation from a source, a previous version of this article stated that AJ Capital Partners owns the Auberge du Soleil hotel in Napa, California. In fact, AJ Capital is an investor in Auberge Resorts, which owns Auberge de Soleil.