Lido House Hotel developer seeks to expand parts of project
A boutique hotel that is slated to replace the former Newport Beach City Hall at the entrance to the Balboa Peninsula is heading back to the city Planning Commission on Thursday in an effort by the developer to expand parts of the project.
The California Coastal Commission approved the four-story, 98,725-square-foot Lido House Hotel last year. The plan calls for 130 guestrooms, meeting and retail space, a spa, restaurants, a pool and recreation area and a rooftop bar.
The City Council approved the plans in 2014, and in May the city began demolishing the old City Hall complex at Newport Boulevard and 32nd Street. The hotel is expected to be completed by summer 2017.
RD Olson Development, which is building the hotel, now is asking the Planning Commission for permission to expand the planned lobby, hotel management office, spa and restaurant and retail area.
The developer also is seeking permission to enlarge two guestrooms on the second floor into suites and decrease the size of the ballroom space by 925 square feet.
“During the final design phase and preparation of construction documents, including a review of the plans by the hotel operator Marriott International, [RD Olson] determined that additional floor area was necessary and desirable,” a city staff report states.
If approved, the changes would increase the development’s footprint by 4,745 square feet, to 103,470 square feet, according to the staff report. The height of the hotel is not expected to change.
The city’s general plan, coastal land-use plan and zoning code – documents that help guide development in Newport – limit the total floor area for the site at 98,725 square feet. Any increase would require the Planning Commission to amend the land-use plan, which had previously been changed to allow the property to be used for commercial and hotel purposes. It previously was zoned only for public facilities.
Planning Commission approval would send the plan back to the Coastal Commission for another review.
City officials and residents near the site have long billed the Lido House project as a key element in a years-long effort to revitalize the peninsula.
Thursday’s Planning Commission meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Newport Beach Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Drive.
