by Garth Meyer
The California Surf Club is taking shape on the Redondo Beach waterfront, although at a slower pace than hoped for, the project to open sometime next year.
Mayor Bill Brand invited founder Allen Sanford to give a presentation to the city council Dec. 12.
“The last six months have been an extremely collaborative effort to find the optimum amenities of what you do (at the club), what you see, what you feel, what you hear,” Sanford said. “Because this business is somewhat challenging convention.”
The membership club centers on two former waterfront restaurant buildings, Ruby’s and On The Rocks. The revamped spaces will be connected by outdoor additions to make a 21,000 square feet facility, with a bar and restaurant, private conference rooms, private dining rooms, fireside ocean lounges, a great room, private listening and art rooms, a games den and more.
The club will rent bikes, stand-up paddleboards, and kayaks.
“We’re finding our voice within the surf and BeachLife community,” Sanford said. “… What does it mean to be a founding member, what do you get, how much does it cost?”
Mayor Brand gave his thoughts on what led to this project.
“I’m so happy to see this activism. And it didn’t just happen. (Other developers) were going to build a mall,” Brand said, referring to CenterCal Properties’ plan to add retail, a movie theater, and a hotel to the waterfront; and to build a new pier parking garage and retrofit the pier’s pedestrian frontage to protect against sea level rise. (The CenterCal matter concluded this year with the city paying $2 million to settle five lawsuits).
A previous plan, in the early 2000s called “Heart of the City”, would also have redeveloped the waterfront.
California Surf Club, Sanford said, will offer a speaker series, live performances, friendly competitions, active workshops and more.
Club founders are still looking for a restored lifeguard tower for kids to play on.
“This project will open in 2024,” Sanford said. “We are going to try like hell to be open in July or August.”
“Our Mission,” he said, reading from a screen above the council, is to be a “Home for our community to come as they are, and focus on good company, good conversation, good vibes and good views. Enjoy, Relax. Connect. Inspire.”
“Pretty amazing, right?” Sanford said to the council. “But; doesn’t exist right now. In other words, in much simpler words, just living the beach life everyday. This has been the North Star that we’ve designed everything around.”
Mayor Brand pointed to events going back two decades that laid the groundwork.
“We’ve been in this for 20 years. Sweat, blood and tears, and money, indirectly… There are people from outside this area who would be more than happy to invest in this waterfront in a way you wouldn’t like,” the mayor said. “And they have resources, they get people elected up here (to city council). It is only the blood, sweat and tears of the residents of not just Redondo Beach but of the South Bay to continue to push this…”
Sanford, the co-founder of the BeachLife Festival concert series, previously owned the St. Rocke music venue in Hermosa Beach and has opened a host of restaurants.
California Surf Club will be open to the public at a day rate.
“The goal is you spend the whole day at the harbor, with the Surf Club as your home base,” Sanford said. “… The membership component adds a sense of camaraderie.”
He told the council about seeing surf clubs in Australia when he studied philosophy at the University of Wollongong during his junior year of college. Sanford graduated from Santa Clara with a degree in philosophy and an emphasis in ethics.
The California Surf Club membership process will start with invitations going out in January for founding members. Sanford said that first memberships will be deliberately limited so the club is not too crowded.
He said 300 parties have expressed interest in joining, “significantly more than we will be taking.”
Other people involved with the project who spoke at the Dec. 12 council meeting included operational partner Jeff Jones of Quality Seafood, and the club’s architect, Stephen Jones, of Manhattan Beach.
The California Surf Club idea came together after Jones, CEO of Quality Seafood, leased the former Ruby’s with plans for a restaurant and began talking to Sanford, who had leased the former On the Rocks for use by BeachLife, with plans to create a place for people to go after spending time on the water. ER
