A purchase has been completed for the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, and its new owners say they will try to hire staff and reopen before the end of the summer season.

The resort’s 200-room hotel and two golf courses, the Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club and Loomis Trails, were bought for $19.5 million by Resort Semiahmoo LLC, a partnership whose managing member is Wright Hotels Inc. of Seattle.

Coastal Hotel Group, also of Seattle, will be Semiahmoo’s new manager. Coastal was also recently installed as manager of the 91-room Best Western Heritage Inn in Bellingham, after that hotel was sold to a different Seattle company in February 2013.

Semiahmoo’s new owners say their initial focus will be getting the property back in operating condition and restoring jobs lost when the resort closed in December 2012. Nearly 300 people were out of work with the shutdown last winter.

It is not yet known just how many people are expected to be hired back, or if additional hires will be made.

The new owners also expect to make a variety of capital investments to the resort.

“We hope to hire staff and to welcome guests to a new and refreshed Semiahmoo before the end of the summer season,” said Stuart Rolfe, president of Wright Hotels Inc., in a press release. “We have a long list of improvements to be made. First improvements will include new premium bedding, bringing all operating systems to full functionality, and a major cleaning of all areas of the resort. The resort’s expansive spa will be restored, and all athletic facilities will receive attention to bring them to full utility.”

Prior to its closure, the Semiahmoo Resort was a major employer for Blaine, a border town of about 4,700 residents.

The resort’s former majority owner was the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe.

Evan Marczynski, staff reporter for The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext. 5052, or at evan@bbjtoday.com.