Will Dunes resort be scrapped?

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Operators of the Newport Dunes resort are questioning

whether a proposed hotel is still worth pursuing given severe conditions

slapped on them last week.

City planning commissioners told the developer to erase the hotel’s fifth

floor and remove a third floor from a proposed time-share building that

would face the Dunes marina.

But the deal breaker may be the request to slice the amount of conference

space -- deemed critical to attract business groups -- from 54,000 square

feet to 30,000, a 44% cut.

Tim Quinn, project manager for the proposed resort, said he was feeling

both “shock and disappointment” in the wake of Thursday’s Planning

Commission recommendations.

“We’re going to take a good, hard look at the project,” Quinn said,

adding that he is studying the financial effect of the suggested changes

to the hotel plan.

The Dunes expansion, which would be built in a corner of the Upper

Newport Bay, has sparked controversy with neighbors -- who worry about

traffic and noise -- and with environmentalists who fear the size and

scope of the project.

But Quinn said hacking back on the conference space “cuts the heart out

of the project.”

The conference space was intended to work in unison with hotel

registration, keeping the number of guests up even during the off-season.

If it is cut, the developers are concerned the change could mean the

proposal’s finances won’t work.

Rosalind Williams, head of the city Conference and Visitor’s Bureau, said

she too is disappointed by the commission’s recommendations, since

conference space is key to attracting business. Conference-goers, she

said, generally stay in local hotels, eat at area restaurants and shop in

local stores, increasing the city’s revenue.

Still, the resort would be one of the larger hotels in the area in terms

of room numbers and the biggest in conference space. Presently, the

Newport Center Marriott has the most conference space, 24,000 square

feet, or less than half of what was proposed at Newport Dunes.

If approved, the $100-million full-service Dunes hotel would include

swimming pools, a health spa and restaurants. The resort is slated to

open within the next three to five years, if it gets through the

commission and City Council approval process.

Developers estimate the hotel would bring in $1.4 million in annual city

revenue.

Quinn said they will make a decision about whether to cut the space and

move on or simply cut their losses and withdraw the project altogether by

the end of the week.