Balboa Inn gets $1.5-million overhaul

Alicia Robinson

The Balboa Inn, a landmark hotel built in 1929, began a major

renovation this week with a construction crew tearing out an adjacent

bike-rental shop and filling the empty swimming pool with debris.

The renovation will add more suites with an ocean view, a parking

area and some retail space to the hotel. It has been in the works for

about five years and is expected to cost about $1.5 million, Balboa

Inn owner Michel Pourmussa said. Construction should wrap up in June.

The hotel will remain open during the work, though Pourmussa does

expect some disruption of his business.

The inn’s face-lift follows a $9-million city project that

upgraded area streets, sidewalks and the Balboa Pier.

“This is a very valuable piece of property, and the Balboa area

has been run down for a number of years,” Pourmussa said. “It just

felt right to inject some private money to upgrade the existing

property, and hopefully that’s going to be the start of other people

doing the same thing.”

Pourmussa describes the hotel’s two existing buildings as having a

Mediterranean style, with potted plants in the tiled, open-air

courtyard and textured walls painted a sepia shade. The inn includes

34 rooms and suites, a restaurant and bar and two store spaces

fronting Main Street that are leased to a surf shop and a clothing

store.

The existing pool will become a parking area, and the upstairs

patio will be extended to become a second-floor addition containing

11 ocean-view suites and a smaller pool and hot tub. A tenant hasn’t

been finalized for the new first-floor retail space, but Pourmussa is

considering a coffee shop.

“I think it’s just long overdue,” surf shop owner Brian Boyle said

of the renovations. Boyle’s Main Street Surf Shop occupies space in

the inn next to where the construction is taking place. “All of the

years that I’ve been down here, it’s just been an eyesore.”

Boyle said lately he’s been seeing increased business, though he’s

not sure if it’s because of the city’s improvements to the area or

the healthier economy. Revitalization of the Balboa area and new

development elsewhere in Newport Beach will boost business further,

Pourmussa said.

He’s not worried about competition from luxury hotels such as the

planned Marinapark resort because the Balboa Inn fills a unique niche

on the peninsula, he said.

“Nobody has beachfront property like us, and a lot of people want

to be on the beach,” he said. “[The renovations are] going to

generate more cash flow for the hotel, and this is going to generate

more bed taxes for the city.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.