Ground Broken for North Redondo Hotels

As investors, public officials and members of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce watched, the Redondo Beach City Council tossed shovelfuls of loose dirt to signify the groundbreaking of two new hotels in North Redondo Beach.

The hotels—a Marriott Residence Inn and a Hilton Garden Inn—are expected it open in spring 2014 on the roughly 5-acre land formerly occupied by the Malibu Castle miniature golf course next to the 405 Freeway. The Marriott is expected to have 172 rooms, while the Hilton will have 147 rooms. Both hotels will have conference facilities.

The project will create about 100 new jobs in Redondo Beach.

"This is a day that many of us have been waiting for, for quite some time," said Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin at Tuesday's groundbreaking.

The hotels were initially approved by the Redondo Beach Planning Commission in 2010; however, the economic downtown stalled plans.

"It was a very special economic time for all of us in 2009," Gin joked. "We (now) have two amazing brands here."

Once built, the hotels are expected to bring in about $2 million annually in taxes for the city; however, under the terms of the financing agreement, the city probably won't see that revenue for several years. The first $8.5 million will be placed in a separate fund to provide a debt service guarantee.

This is not the first hotel groundbreaking this year. In March, the city council symbolically started the deconstruction of the old Red Onion building on Harbor Drive. A new Shade Hotel from Michael Zislis will be built on that property.