Taking ceremonial sledgehammers to the walls of the long-vacant Red Onion building on Harbor Drive, city officials and Shade Hotel owner Michael Zislis on Thursday marked the groundbreaking of Shade’s Redondo Beach protégé.
The project has entered the deconstruction phase, expected to last 12 weeks, and is likely to be finished in about two years’ time. The upshot will be a 54-room luxury boutique hotel with meeting and conference facilities for up to 60, wedding and event space for up to 150, a rooftop sky-deck, and a restaurant and lounge.
All rooms will have harbor views, Tempur-Pedic mattresses and pillows, two HD televisions and DVD players, executive desks, wireless internet, mini bars and refrigerators, espresso machines, and balconies outfitted with a hammock, spa, and table and chairs.
Zislis said at Thursday’s ceremony that Redondo Beach is a “natural” location for a second Shade, given the South Bay community’s investment in the chain’s Manhattan Beach location. The Metlox Plaza location has 52 investors, many of them local. The hotel has been voted the number six reason to visit Los Angeles by Conde Nast, and Zislis said last year it paid just over $400,000 in transient occupancy taxes. He expects the Redondo Beach location to be equally as successful.
Mayor Mike Gin thanked Zislis and his team for their “special commitment to sustainability” at Thursday’s ceremony.
Shade has several eco-friendly objectives, including installation of solar hot water panels, maximization of natural lighting and ventilation, and the setting up of energy saving systems controls with occupancy sensors to avoid electricity waste. All deconstructed timber remaining after the demolition of Red Onion will be repurposed for furniture.
Gin called Shade a “signature project” for Redondo Beach and an “anchor” for the impending 15-acre redevelopment of the Redondo Beach waterfront.
For more information or to sign up for project updates, visit shaderb.com.
