Santa Barbara’s Canary Hotel changed hands on March 22, when Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants finalized an estimated $40 million deal that’s been in the works since January.

The private equity branch of the San Francisco-based hotel company acquired the 97-room boutique hotel along with its attached eatery, Coast Restaurant and Bar, Canary general manager Laura McIver confirmed to the Business Times. Canary is located on the corner of Carrillo and Chapala streets in downtown Santa Barbara.

Though McIver declined to confirm the sale price, an industry source who saw the offering package in January said the hotel was listed for $40 million, or about $400,000 per room.

Beverly Hills-based Edward Thomas Hospitality Corp., Canary’s most recent owner, bought the hotel from The Tynan Group five years ago for $31 million.  In January, several industry sources said the $9 million price increase means Santa Barbara is becoming a premium destination for hoteliers with upscale taste.

“It’s exciting to be in a position right now to acquire such high quality properties,” Kimpton CEO Michael Depatie said in a release. “Being well poised to move quickly on attractive deals, either to work with developers looking for equity partners or to acquire properties in key target markets, has worked to our advantage in Santa Barbara. We hope this trend continues as we continue to seek assets for acquisition.”

Kimpton will manage Canary and its restaurant, the hotel’s new owner and current management said in a joint release. McIver said Canary’s current workforce will remain largely intact, with all hourly line employees keeping their jobs. McIver will stay on as the hotel’s general manager.

“We’re all excited, the staff is excited,” McIver said. “We’re full of mixed emotions because we’ve worked for Edward Thomas for so long, but Kimpton is a great fit for the community.”

This is the seventh investment for Kimpton’s private equity fund, which purchased the RiverPlace Hotel in Portland, Ore. earlier this year. The fund also owns the Hotel Palomar brands in San Diego, Chicago and Philadelphia and a Hotel Monaco in Baltimore and Philadelphia.

With the acquisition of Canary, Kimpton, founded by Bill Kimpton in 1981, manages 15 properties in California.

Canary is marketed as the downtown area’s only boutique hotel, and caters to businesspeople and film industry executives.