Save the sewage, Malibu hotel will get green light: $75 million bluff-top project to overlook the Pacific.

Save the sewage, Malibu hotel will get green light

After several years of planning and revisions, construction of the $75 million, Rancho Malibu Bel-Air Hotel at the intersection of Malibu Canyon Road and the Pacific Coast Highway could begin this summer, according to the developers.

One more permit - for the sewer system - is needed before construction can begin on the property that was first considered by the Rindge-Adamson family in 1977, the developers, which include the Adamson Cos., reported.

The plan has gone through several revisions since its original concept and now includes construction of a resort-style complex on a 28-acre site on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The facility would include a series of Mediterranean-style, one-or two-story buildings with guest rooms and other facilities, said Jay Hanan, director of real estate for the Adamson Cos. in Los Angeles.

The possibility of construction starting soon is significant because there are so few hotels in Malibu and because it represents an expansion of the Bel-Air name, which in the hospitality business has been synonymous with deluxe accommodations.

The Sazale Group, based in Japan, purchased the Bel-Air Hotel 18 months ago and formed Bel-Air Hotel Co. In addition to the proposed Malibu property, the company is negotiating a management contract with a hotel in New York and is planning to build facilities in Hawaii and Bangkok. All the proposed hotel properties would carry the Bel-Air name.

Sazale is expected to start construction on the proposed Big Island, Hawaii property sometime this summer and the Bangkok facility next September, said Victoria King Bohlmann, director of public relations for Bel-Air Hotel Co.

The Rindge-Adamson family at one time owned 18,000 acres of land in an area that is now Malibu. Over the years, the family has sold off its holdings, which also included 22 miles of coastline property.

The family has owned the site, known as Rancho Mirage, of the proposed hotel since 1892. "The family has wanted to build a hotel with the Bel-Air name for several years. Right now we have 46 of the 47 necessary approvals from Los Angeles County and the California Coastal Commission," said Hanan. "What we are doing now is working on the reclamation plant that would satisfy the final condition."

Under the current plan, the project would be a joint effort by the Rindge-Adamson family and Sazale. Financing for the project is in place and Sazale would hold an equity position in the property. The Bel-Air Hotel Group would manage the hotel, said Hanan.

"In order to get the approvals, we have scaled down the project and it has been completely redesigned to make it more aesthetically appealing and fit the makeup of the land. Our architect has said it now resembles a hillside village rather than the monolith it was," said Hanan.

Unlike most of the new hotels in nearby Santa Monica, Hanan said, if the developer gets final approval and the project moves forward, the Malibu property will be marketed to leisure rather than business travelers.