US and Monaco should value billionaires like Pastor, but Carmel may lose him for good…
In an era when leaders from Donald Trump to Monaco’s own government are keen to lure high-net-worth investors, Monaco billionaire Patrice Pastor is exactly the kind of figure they say they want.
With over $100 million poured into Carmel-by-the-Sea over the last decade, Pastor has restored some of the region’s most recognisable landmarks and created jobs, all while preserving historic character. Yet after years of stalled approvals and political pushback, he says he is ready to walk away.
Pastor’s company, Esperanza Carmel, owns a portfolio that includes L’Auberge Carmel, the Eastwood Building, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Mrs. Clinton Walker House, the Carmel Beach Hotel, the Forge in the Forest, and the Rocky Point Restaurant in Big Sur.
But his patience is wearing thin over the JB Pastor Project, a 30,000-square-foot retail and residential development on Dolores Street that has been delayed for six years, undergone five redesigns, and now faces yet another postponement after an August 4 city council meeting stretched past six hours and ended without a decision.
The site lies next to another of his stalled ventures, Ulrika Plaza, which locals call “The Pit.” Despite receiving approval in 2023, it remains an empty hole.
Claire Totten, Pastor’s PR representative, told SFGate.com: “It’s not like he picked up a book one day and was like, ‘Let me find the best place to invest.’ It’s that he personally loves it here.” Pastor first visited Carmel at age seven and still owns several homes in the town.
But his own words paint a clear picture of frustration: “It’s time for us to bring our expertise and motivation to other projects, elsewhere, where we will be better received,” as reported by LATimes.com. If he leaves, Carmel risks losing one of its most committed private investors, the very type both the US and Monaco can ill afford to push away.
