James W. Colachis |
| Posted 2009-11-24 by Pat Wilson |
| Real estate executive and civic leader James W. Colachis, whose investments include the sprawling Rancho Bernardo Inn, died yesterday of cancer at his home in La Jolla. He was 65. Colachis was owner, founder and board chairman of The J.W. Colachis Co., a La Jolla-based property investment and management firm with extensive holdings in California and Arizona. The firm was a pioneer in the high-rise apartment building business in Phoenix, and its Executive Towers, a 23-story structure built in 1964, was for a time the tallest building between Dallas and Los Angeles, according to company officials. Colachis is best known, however, for his ownership of resort hotels -- the kingpin being the 338-room Rancho Bernardo Inn, located on 265 acres off Interstate 15 near Escondido, CA. He purchased the hotel in 1975 and upgraded it over the years. He used the same buy-and-improve formula with his other resorts, including the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach, the Temecula Creek Inn, located on 310 acres in the Rancho California area of Riverside County, and the Scripps Inn in La Jolla. Colachis was born in Phoenix. His parents were Greek immigrants who prospered both in the restaurant and wholesale fish businesses. He was raised in both Phoenix and in Escondido, where his family in 1935 acquired avocado groves and citrus ranches. An engineering graduate of the University of Southern California, Colachis initially worked in Arizona as an engineer for the Del Webb Corp. Then in 1958, using his experience in Webb's real estate investment and development business, he decided to strike out on his own. Over the years, The J.W. Colachis Co.'s interests extended from raw land to medical and office buildings, apartments, a regional shopping center, various commercial projects and resort hotels. Colachis, who settled in La Jolla and and moved his corporate office there in the early 1970s, was a member of the board of trustees of the University of San Diego, the Independent Colleges of Southern California, the National Board of the Salk Institute and the board of directors of the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. He served on the board of trustees of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, now known as the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, and the San Diego Opera Association. He was a member of the University of Southern California Associates, Los Angeles, and Chancellor's Associates at the University of California at San Diego. Colachis was given special recognition for community service by the Rancho Bernardo Town Council for contributions to "Symphony on the Green," a series of summer outdoor concerts. In Phoenix, Colachis was chairman of the Maricopa County Mental Health fund-raising campaign, president of the Midtown Development Association and a member of the council of directors of the Phoenix Symphony Association. Colachis was also a member of the Mayor's Crime Commission in Phoenix and helped inaugurate fund-raising drives to support the zoo, symphony and art museum in the Arizona city. Last April, Colachis was honored by the USC School of Engineering for contributions in business as a graduate. Colachis is survived by his wife, Kathryn Strope Colachis; a son and a daughter, August R. and Belle Reed, both of La Jolla; and six grandchildren. A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday at Mary Star Of The Sea Catholic Church, 7727 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Burial plans are private, according to a spokeswoman for the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Colachis' name may be sent to the Green Cancer Center at Scripps Clinic. The Arizona Republic January 7, 1992 See Also: AZ Birth Certificate |
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