LOS GATOS — A homebuilder that had previously landed an option to buy the Los Gatos Lodge and later gained approval for a housing development at the property has formally purchased the site.

Summerhill Homes, acting through an affiliate, paid $78.4 million to purchase the 128-room hotel, according to documents filed on Oct. 15 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

In 2023, the residential developer obtained an option to buy the property from an affiliate headed up by Bay Area resident Keet Nerhan.

The Los Gatos Town Council in March unanimously approved a Summerhill proposal for a 155-unit housing development on the property at 50 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd.

The project would consist of three-story townhomes distributed among 28 buildings. The 155 residences would include 26 below-market-rate units, 16 priced for low-income residents, and 10 priced for those with a moderate income.

The precise timeline to develop the project wasn’t immediately known.

“We believe that the project will be a valuable asset to the community, helping the town provide housing so that it will continue to sustain a thriving, multigenerational community,” John Hickey, vice president of development for SummerHill Homes, said at the March council meeting.

Nerhan bought the hotel in 1996 from Alleghany Properties. Terms weren’t disclosed. Nerhan also attempted to sell the Los Gatos Lodge in 2019, but that fell through within a few months, county records show.

“The original hotel was built in 1936 and has not undergone significant remodeling or reconstruction since the 1970s,” a report circulated in 2014 by the Town of Los Gatos stated.