The humble parking lot sandwiched between Macy’s and an athletic field is getting another look as the city contemplates asking developers for proposals for the site.
At its Aug. 18 meeting, City Council directed staff to prepare a request for proposals that it would review at a later date.
Mayor Mark Burton brought up the possibility of building a luxury hotel on the city-owned site, although this was considered as far back as 15 years ago, he said, and again more recently when the Manhattan Village Mall was planning its renovation.
At the meeting, Burton cited the recent record-breaking sale of the Manhattan Towers office complex across Parkview Avenue for $96 million and the proliferation of tech companies south of the city that he said was creating demand for hotels.
The weekday occupancy rate of the Marriott, which is just east of the site, was 85 percent, he added.
“This is the type of opportunity that councils don’t get often,” he told his colleagues. “This is a legacy opportunity.”
City Manager Mark Danaj said he thought Burton’s idea was “worth exploring.”
“The city’s been approached by various business interests about building hotels in Manhattan Beach,” he said.
However, the news that the council was considering such a move prompted a flurry of emails of protest from residents of the Manhattan Village Senior Villas, which borders the southern end of the site.
“I live in the Manhattan Village Senior Villas and I have to say I was not only dumbfounded but outraged that the City of Manhattan Beach would even consider cramming a hotel on the parking lot property!” wrote Deborah Cornelius in an email to the council.
Cornelius worried that any development would hinder emergency vehicles responding to residents.
“How would the City feel about their approval of this hotel if a life was not able to be saved because the added traffic in the parking lot blocked the paramedics from reaching the building in time?” she wrote.
Several residents also voiced their concerns at the meeting.
Although some of the council seemed excited by the opportunity, others urged caution.
Councilmember Wayne Powell pointed out that the Urban Land Institute had suggested using the mall as a remote parking lot for downtown. The mall’s renovation also included the promise of more parking because some felt it would be necessary, especially during the holidays.
Building on the site could prove challenging since it previously served as an oil reservoir for Chevron.
Powell said he wanted “a unified direction” for the development of the area.
“We need to look at our general plan and do a lot of due diligence, rather than proliferate development on a piecemeal basis,” he said.
Councilmembers David Lesser and Amy Howorth suggested broadening the scope of the request for proposals. Howorth asked to include proposals for offices in addition to a hotel, and Lesser asked for alternative locations, such as where Fry’s sits, on the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue.
In an interview a few days after the meeting, Burton said the idea was conceptual at this point but worth exploring since the city owns the land.
“It’s a great way of getting informed of what private industry would do with the site,” he said.
As for the seniors, he said he understood their concerns and would speak to them in person. The idea envisioned 15 years ago by the mall’s previous owners were for something that would only take up half the parking lot, he added.
“I think it would be magical,” Burton said. “It would ignite the whole area.” ER
