Some 200 people turned out to MOXI Wednesday evening for the announcement that Hotel Californian will open this summer at 36 State St. on three neighboring parcels.
The 248,000-square-foot project is completely reconstructing and expanding the once-dilapidated 1920s-era hotel.
Work on the project, which has also been known as La Entrada de Santa Barbara, began in 2014 after the site was purchased by Los Angeles-based developer 35 State Street Hotel Partners, which is led by Next Century Associates managing partner Michael Rosenfeld.
“It’s been a fantastic journey, and a fantastic partnership with the City of Santa Barbara, with the residents of Santa Barbara, with the merchants and business owners of Santa Barbara,” Rosenfeld said Wednesday. “We’ve really been received with tremendous grace.”
The 121-room, Spanish Colonial-style hotel is maintaining the building’s original façade, and will feature a rooftop event deck and pool, paseos, gardens, plazas, fountains, a ballroom, meeting and event spaces, a fitness center, a fashion boutique and a “Moroccan-inspired” spa and salon.
The building on the original Hotel Californian site will be four stories tall and host 62 rooms, a deck, the spa and the fitness center. Two three-story Mason Street buildings will contain 58 rooms, the lobby and the fashion boutique.
Another building across State Street will feature a deck, a plaza lawn and a 1,700-square-foot presidential suite.
Hotel managing director Carlos Lopes said a Mediterranean and American restaurant anchored by seafood will go into the Mason Street complex, along with a café in the second State Street site.
Lopes said the hotel will have the largest rooms in the city. The average room rate, which will vary seasonally, will be around $550.
Mayor Helene Schneider, who spoke at Wednesday’s event, said the entire project will generate around 180 full-time jobs.
by Sam Goldman with Noozhawk
TynanGroup was the Project Manager on the Hotel Californian project.
