Sunstone Guest Ranch Sells for Grace to the Nation Retreat Center

The Historic Sunstone Guest Ranch at 2575 N Woodland Road in Tucson sold for $1.175 million ($103 PSF) to Grace Global Group (Rae Orozco, pastor) of Tucson for use as a religious retreat, Grace to the Nation Retreat Center. The approximate 12-acres with 11,410-square-feet in five buildings was sold by Ranch House Investors LLC, an affiliate of Larsen Baker of Tucson, (George Larsen and Don Baker, members).

The property was first constructed as a guest ranch in 1882, the forerunner to Sunstone Guest Ranch, opened 26 years prior to the Tanque Verde Ranch that still invites tourists. The property operated as a dude ranch up until about 1943.

From about 1947 to 1967 it was called El Carinila Ranch, a guest ranch and a summer camp for children ages 6 to 15, that was owned and operated by Irving and Faye Labensart.

The property was annexed by the City of Tucson in 1984. It’s uncertain when they purchased it, but the Sikh Dharma religious group owned the property until 1990 and did much of the landscaping before selling it to Robert Raynon who incorporated the guest ranch as a non-profit guest ranch / bed and breakfast. Raynon owned and operated it from 1990-1995 when Sharon Ludwig purchased it and made major improvements to the property and rebranded it Sunstone Guest Ranch.

In 2002, the guest ranch was sold to Arizona Oncology Associates that received funding from prominent benefactors to convert the then 120-year old guest ranch into a retreat for cancer patients and renamed it Sunstone Healing Center, owned and operated by the Sunstone Cancer Support Foundation. Tucson philanthropists such as The Zuckermans, Don and Joan Diamond and Jim Click were major benefactors funding the cancer healing center in these early years.

Researchers with the Arizona Cancer Center saw Sunstone as a lab where programs might be developed for a holistic approach in treatment of the disease, with alternative therapies such as Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture, and a full range of supportive interventions-classes being offered at Sunstone in healthful cooking, stress relieving yoga and other therapies to help patients achieve and maintain optimum health while also undergoing conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and other conventional treatments in their regular medical clinics.

In 2009, Mirasol bought the property from the Sunstone Cancer Support Foundation for just under $2 million for an obesity and eating disorder treatment center that closed in 2011 when Larsen and Baker bought it to preserve for history and save from further disrepair.

Chuck Corriere, MBA, of KW Commercial in Tucson represented the buyer, Grace Global Group and Andy Seleznov, CCIM of Larsen Baker represented the seller in this latest transaction.

To learn more Corriere can be reached at 520.400.9811 and Seleznov should be contacted at 520.296.0200.