Waterfront Revitalization Plans Revealed

It's official: The and the rest of the beach city's waterfront are getting a makeover, city officials and waterfront stakeholders announced Tuesday morning at a news conference on the pier.

The first phase of the facelift, which has already begun on RDR Properties' Redondo Landing building—a facility that houses well-known establishments like , the and —will involve a remodel of the Redondo Landing, updates to city-managed areas of the pier and construction of a new Shade Hotel at the site of the old Red Onion building.

"Our shared vision for the new Redondo Landing is one that recaptures the rich architectural history of the waterfront, while propelling the entire area into a vibrant, new future," said Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin in a statement. "The new, boutique Shade Hotel on the Harbor side, and the Redondo Landing on the Pier side of the waterfront are the centerpieces and the catalysts of this revitalization."

The passage of the Measure G harbor zoning initiative last year enabled the planned redevelopment, Councilman Steve Aspel said at the news conference. "We're very proud that Measure G passed."

A recent report in the Daily Breeze said the city has committed about $2 million in funding for improvements and repairs to the pier, which received its last structural update in 2005. Combined with the millions planned for the new Shade Hotel, the first phase of the waterfront renovation will cost more than $25 million.

The 32,000-square-foot Redondo Landing's facade will be updated to match the architectural style of the Looff Hippodrome, a carousel building constructed on the pier in the 1920s, according to information provided to the media at the news conference.

The renovation, which is scheduled to be completed during the summer of 2012, will feature vintage heavy timber storefronts, a nautically themed public art program that includes murals and a photographic timeline of the pier's history. The interiors of businesses in the Redondo Landing will also be remodeled.

"We couldn't be more excited today to announce the Landing is coming back to the Redondo Beach Pier," said RDR Properties President Robert Resnick in a statement.

Resnick also said that RDR Properties is looking to use salvaged items like timber and boat lamps, as well as systems with a low energy footprint, during the remodel.

"We deeply support sustainable building practices," Resnick said.

In an email to the Daily Breeze, Councilman Bill Brand called RDR Properties one of the city's "most important leaseholders" and the project "the beginning of the revitalization of the Redondo waterfront.

"Everyone has been looking forward to upgrades at the pier, and this is the first of many to come over the next several years."

Brand's District 2 contains the pier and King Harbor, including the old Red Onion property that will become the site of the future Shade Hotel.

The new Shade Hotel will cover 36,000 square feet, have at least one restaurant, be three stories high and hold 45 guest rooms. The $20 million project is expected to be completed in mid-2014.

Each room will feature a 12-foot by 12-foot balcony with a view of King Harbor and the Pacific Ocean, and the hotel will be illuminated with natural skylights. The architectural style will be "vintage modern" and respect existing view corridors.

Michael Zislis, the owner and developer of the planned hotel, is looking to get the hotel certified as a LEED Platinum building, the most stringent of all environmentally friendly certifications.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a green-building certification standard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. Structures seeking LEED certification under new construction standards must earn a certain number of credits in five categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials, and resources and indoor environmental quality.

Zislis said that he will use timber salvaged from the demolition of the old Red Onion building to construct bed frames and other furniture for his new hotel. He's also trying to remove the hotel from the state's electrical grid.

According to the recent article in the Daily Breeze, weekday rooms at the new Shade Hotel will cost $195 per night. On weekends, rooms will cost $245 per night.

Zislis said the site currently brings the city less than $10,000 per month in revenue; in contract, the Shade Hotel will eventually bring the city about $50,000 per month.

"[The] stars truly aligned for this project," Zislis said at the news conference, during which he called the pier and the rest of the waterfront "the last unpolished gem on the oceanfront in the South Bay."

Vintage architectural styles will also adorn the new 2,200-square-foot building for offices, restrooms and showers at —a project the City Council approved several months ago. The remodel is expected to cost about $1.3 million.

The city is also looking to spend $700,000 for new lighting, landscaping, furnishings and paving on the pier's streetscape; $800,000 for a as part of the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan improvements; $2.1 million on a new Harbor Patrol Facility on Mole B; and additional funds on other improvements for tenants of Mole B as part of the second phase of the revitalization.

For the third phase of the revitalization, the city is busy buying up and consolidating leaseholds on the pier to make it more attractive to a private developer. Two leaseholds—one of which includes the International Boardwalk in the Redondo Beach Marina—are already in escrow.

The City Council has already begun property negotiations with a multitude of businesses on the pier—including , also known as "Old Tony's," according to closed session items on a recent council agenda.