Maguire Thomas dives into Santa Monica hotel fray, breaks ground on new project.Maguire Thomas dives into Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. hotel fray, breaks ground on new project Maguire Thomas Partners, best known for its office developments, officially jumped into the booming Santa Monica hotel market last week when it broke ground on its 170-room Santa Monica Ocean Hotel. The project, slated for completion in early 1992, is the most recent of a virtual tidal wave tidal wave, term properly applied to the crest of a tide as it moves around the earth. The wavelike upstream rush of water caused by the incoming tide in some locations is known as a tidal bore. of new upscale hotels hitting the Santa Monica shore. Maguire Thomas' hotel projects sits right next door to the 350-room Loews Santa Monica Hotel, which opened just last summer, and is about 100 yards away from the 198-room Park Hyatt Santa Monica Hotel, which is now nearing completion. Further challenging the future success of Maguire Thomas' project if the fact that both the neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. hotels have better ocean frontage. Sitting directly between the beach and Maguire Thomas' hotel is the Sea Castle Apartment Building, which is roughly the same height as Maguire Thomas' new hotel. Maguire Thomas' architect on the project, Buzz Yudell of the firm Moore Ruble Yudell, has partially alleviated that sizable obstacle by angling the building design to the south. About 65 percent of the hotel's 170 rooms offer at least partial ocean views, reported Dan Kingsley, a Maguire Thomas vice president. But many of those views would also be cut off if the hodgepodge hodge·podge n. A mixture of dissimilar ingredients; a jumble. [Alteration of Middle English hochepot, from Old French, stew; see hotchpot. of small apartment buildings on the south side of the hotel were ever redeveloped. Even more of Maguire Thomas' valuable ocean views would be lost if a state-owned surface parking lot adjacent to the Sea Castle is developed. But Maguire Thomas' Kingsley said he is confident those two sites will not be redeveloped in the near future. Even with ocean views intact, however, the Santa Monica Ocean Hotel is expected to find the going tough at first, industry analysts predicted. In addition to the new Loews and Park Hyatt hotels, a 253-room Guest Quarters Suite Hotel has just hit the Santa Monica market, and the 306-room Ritz Carlton Hotel Carlton Hotel can refer to:
As if that weren't enough, restauranteur Michael McCarty recently got city approval to build a 148-room upscale beachfront beach·front n. A strip of land facing or running along a beach. adj. Situated along or having direct access to a beach: beachfront hotels; beachfront property. Noun 1. hotel on the site of the Sand & Sea Club. The ultimate fate of McCarty's project, however, lies in the hands of Santa Monica voters, who will cast ballots on the issue in November. Santa Monica's current hotel occupancy Noun 1. hotel occupancy - occupancy rate for hotels occupancy rate - the percentage of all rental units (as in hotels) are occupied or rented at a given time rate is 74 percent, reported Bruce Baltin, a partner at the accounting firm Pannell Kerr Forster. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , about three out of every four Santa Monica hotel rooms are filled on an average night. That occupancy rate Noun 1. occupancy rate - the percentage of all rental units (as in hotels) are occupied or rented at a given time pct, per centum, percent, percentage - a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred) is still much healthier than the countrywide average of 68 percent. But it is down significantly from Santa Monica's 82 percent occupancy rate of a year ago. Santa Monica's current rate is about optimal, Baltin said, to accommodate peak demand periods comfortably. But that 74 percent rate is exptected to decline dramatically in the coming months, as hundreds of new rooms hit the market. Baltin estimated that Santa Monica's hotel demand, while increasing, will not catch up to its skyrocketing supply for at least a couple of years. Maguire Thomas' Kingsley explained that his firm has taken the current market conditions into consideration. "We anticipate it will take several years to reach stabilization, and we are prepared for that," he said. The Santa Monica Ocean Hotel will be Maguire Thomas' second hotel project. Its first was a 12-story Doubletree Hotel at its Plaza Las Fuentes project in Pasadena. |
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