Dunes won’t be scrapped -- yet

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- Proponents of the Dunes resort hotel have agreed to

scale back the project even further to meet Planning Commissioners’

requests, but say at least 31,000 square feet of conference space is

needed to keep the proposed resort financially viable.

The developer, Evans Hotels, has already spent $1.5 million on the

$100-million hotel project and is eager to find some sort of compromise.

But the company will still consider scrapping the project if the

conference space is reduced to a level that won’t attract business

groups, said project manager Tim Quinn.

The meeting space, which was originally proposed to be 54,000 square

feet, is intended to keep hotel occupancy up during the off-season.

“We’re trying to put forward a project at the quality level the city is

looking for that is economically viable,” said Robert Gleason, chief

financial officer for Evans Hotels.

Under the commission’s proposal, the conference space, which has already

been reduced to 36,000 square feet, would drop to 25,000 square feet --

still the largest capacity in the city.

Planning Commission chairman Ed Selich said if proponents can manage the

crowds associated with conferences, he would be willing to consider the

request for the extra 6,000 square feet.

“It seems like a reasonable request to me,” he said. “If they come up

with some management techniques, that would help.”

In addition to cutting conference space, commissioners told the developer

to eliminate the hotel’s fifth floor and remove the third floor from a

proposed time-share building that would face the Dunes marina.

Operators agreed to cutting out the fifth floor, but want to relocate the

18 rooms to another part of the project. Quinn also agreed to remove the

third floor from the time-share building.

The proposal’s size and height has generated much controversy with

neighbors in the Bayside Village mobile home park, who are concerned

about traffic and noise.

Local environmentalists have also been particularly vocal because the

expansion would be built on the shores of the environmentally sensitive

Upper Newport Bay.

The project is for a full-service hotel that would include swimming

pools, a health spa and restaurants. If approved, the hotel could open

within the next three to five years.

Evans Hotels estimates the resort would bring in $1.4 million in annual

city revenue.