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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

First Hyatt for Valley Planned in Glendale

Glendale’s Redevelopment Agency has approved the first stage of a design proposal for a Hyatt to be built at the corner of Wilson and Central avenues. If completed, the 11-story hotel would be the only Hyatt in the San Fernando Valley. With 172 rooms, the Hyatt Place hotel is distinct from the Hyatt’s other brands, according to Newport Beach developer Komar Investments LLC. “This is a new product type from Hyatt. Usually, they just do the convention hotel the Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt or Grand Hyatt,” explained Greg Alekian, Komar Investments’ project director. In contrast, the Hyatt proposed for Glendale “is more of a boutique, edgier hotel geared towards younger people. We’re trying to bridge the gap in all clienteles, younger and older,” Alekian said. Though additional Hyatts of the kind are being proposed throughout Southern California, the Glendale site will be a flagship of sorts. It will be the only such hotel of its stature in the region and includes an independently-operated restaurant and a four-level underground parking lot. The nearly 19,000 square feet of land that the hotel will occupy is owned by the City of Glendale and is now home to a surface parking lot with about 60 spaces. That the project has passed the first stage of design review means that its basic concept and design parameters have been approved, including its architectural components and placement on the land on which it will be built. In the next four to six months, Glendale’s Redevelopment Agency will review the project’s second stage. If approved, 24 months of construction will begin. The Hyatt Place could be completed by late 2011 or early 2012 at the earliest. Though the City of Glendale has mostly been supportive of the project, officials have also raised concerns about what type of environmental impact it will have. “We’d like this to be as energy efficient and water efficient as possible,” said Ara Najarian, a city councilman and chair of the Redevelopment Agency. “We’re encouraging the developer to make it as efficient as possible, to have as less of an impact on the environment as possible. We would like to see a full array of energy saving (features) water conservation, low volatility, organic compounds on their carpeting, interior fixtures.” Such concerns do not alarm Alekian, who said that Komar will address them by enlisting environmental consultants. “They assess the impact and make recommendations to minimize the impact that is being done right now,” he said of the consultants’ role. Areas of focus will include parking, use of utilities and view impacts in other words, how the multistory building will affect the skyline. Stylistically, city officials believe that the Hyatt Place project will have a positive impact on its surroundings. The hotel is expected to infuse the portion of downtown it occupies with modern flair. “In that particular corner of our downtown, we have a lot of very modern, contemporary architectural styles planned,” Najarian said. “This little corner of downtown is going to be our contemporary corner.” This provides a contrast to the more traditional, Spanish craftsman buildings in the area, he added. According to Alekian, the building’s modern edge typifies the evolution that occurs in many urban areas. “Not everything looks exactly the same,” he said. “It bridges the gap.” While Glendale officials have railed around the project and hope that it will lead to a Hyatt Regency being built elsewhere in the city someday, Najarian said that local officials did nothing to lure the chain there. Instead, the developer approached the city about using its land to build a hotel. “We gave encouragement to the developer,” Najarian said. “We wanted something special, something reflecting Glendale’s certain level of panache. We think it’s a great brand to bring into Glendale. The Hyatt reflects the quality and service that people coming to Glendale will expect.” Alekian said that Komar Investments was drawn to Glendale because there is need for hotel development there. “First of all, from a developer standpoint, when you’re identifying a place, the whole tri-cities area is really underserved from a hotel standpoint,” he said. “We did a market study. There’s room for new hotels, especially when there’s obviously a lot of vibrancy in downtown Glendale, which has only been helped by The Americana (shopping complex).” Apparently, other developers feel the same way about the city. A new Embassy Suites will open in Glendale this month. Moreover, the city is in talks with the developer of another hotel, to be situated at the corner of Brand Boulevard and Wilson Avenue. This hotel will be a four-star venue, as the city has required the developer to build a hotel of this caliber, according to Najarian. “We’re really happy to get a hotel there at the other location,” he said. So, just whom will these new hotels serve? Those in Glendale’s financial sector as well as film studio executives, believes Najarian. And because Glendale is home to three major freeways the 134, the 5 and the 2 a number of miscellaneous individuals are also likely to seek lodging in the city, Najarian continued. “Glendale is ground zero for hotel demand,” Najarian said. “There’s a huge demand in the area.”

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