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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Room Refurbishment

Although the hotel industry has suffered a major setback because of the pandemic, a few hotel owners have taken advantage of the slow business period to optimistically forge ahead with site renovations.“In the corona scenario, there is so much uncertainty,” Tahir “T.M.” Mian, a Camarillo resident who owns a clutch of Hilton-brand hotels in Oxnard and Calabasas, told the Business Journal. “The decisions you have to make – you hang loose and see what time it breaks.”At Mian Cos.’ Hilton Garden Inn in Calabasas, which stands next door to Caruso’s popular The Commons at Calabasas outdoor mall, the company has gone full-throttle on revamping the rooms, common areas and signage.At the same time in Burbank, Hotel Amarano at 322 N. Pass Ave. has been overhauled. Both Mian’s HGI Calabasas and the Nimes Real Estate-owned Amarano will finish their renovations in October.Each owner has different reasons for remodeling their respective assets. As a franchisee, Mian belongs to an 862-hotel fraternity under the Hilton Garden Inn moniker, which replaced the CrestHill by Hilton brand in the late 1980s. So, it is Mian’s obligation to maintain and regularly update to HGI standards and aesthetics.When Mian — after many years of owning and operating Hilton-brand hotels in other markets — continued his franchise agreement with Hilton regarding HGI Calabasas, the contractual expectation from Hilton Worldwide was that he would refresh the hotel.  “After 20 years, the franchise agreement with Hilton expired (on HGI Calabasas),” Mian said, “(and) I entered into a new franchise agreement. They decided to give me a 15-year franchise. They did a property inspection. Everything had to be brand new.”Nimes Real Estate Chief Financial Officer Afshin Kateb said Hotel Amarano has engaged in a full-scale renovation of the lobby, public areas, guestrooms, meeting and event spaces, plus a new bar and a restaurant called FYC. This makeover project had been a given ever since Nimes acquired the property from Pebblebrook Hotel Trust in July 2019 for $73 million. In fact, Nimes founder David Nazarian — brother of nightclub and restaurant impresario Sam Nazarian and the man whose name adorns the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University – Northridge — has been masterminding the renovation since the time of purchase by talking with design firm HBA, which finished the design planning process by October 2019 before the physical renovation began in late November.These aren’t the only two properties taking advantage of the slower occupancy period during the COVID-19 crisis. The Garland in North Hollywood and Hilton Universal City have also undergone renovations in recent months.The Universal City site’s renovations were mostly infrastructure related — upgrades and recertification of mechanical room, which controls the hot water, pneumatics, isolation valves and heat exchangers. Crews also installed the newest automated ironer folder and equipment to improve laundry efficiency by 75 percent. In an email to the Business Journal, Mark Davis, chief executive of the hotel’s owner Sun Hill Properties, said that the renovations were “unplanned and driven by COVID-19 impacts.” Nevertheless, the “lower occupancy made it easier to execute for temporary water shutoffs and downtime in laundry,” he continued.The hotel also upgraded outdoor space at the pool to facilitate required non-use of indoor dining space and reconfigured buffet lines to cafeteria-style service for no guest contact service “for when we are allowed to reopen indoor dining,” Davis said.In terms of dining, the hotel is preparing to launch a new expansion of the outdoor venue 555 On the Hill, a permanent outdoor Hollywood Hills-view food and beverage service. The eatery will make its debut before the end of the year.The Garland General Manager Scott Mills said his hotel had already been in renovation mode on the pool deck as the outbreak gained steam in March. “The original scope of the project was isolated to a single area to accommodate guests during the work period,” Mills told the Business Journal. “As it became clear that we were facing a lasting closure, we were able to find a silver lining by reallocating funding from other projects to complete a more expansive refresh.” He added: “The demolition, dust, and closure period for these projects would have made them nearly impossible to complete under normal circumstances while hosting guests.” Media District makeoverAccording to Nimes’ Kateb, the timing and location could not be better to reinvent Hotel Amarano.“The city has nothing but upside,” Kateb said of Burbank. From the Burbank Media District, he explained, his hotel will capitalize on an influx of activity on its way to the area, even as Warner Bros. Entertainment is currently constructing a monumental office complex in time for the studio’s 100th anniversary in 2023 while Netflix, according to real estate insiders, has signed a 171,000-square-foot lease at Burbank Empire Center.“The airport is actually rejuvenating itself,” Kateb said. “These are all elements that add to this puzzle.”The new owners have ambitious ideas for the hotel’s new design.“We wanted to create a story,” Kateb explained. They came up with a fictional character named Amara from the 1920s and 1930s who had her ranch where Hollywood moguls and players would come visit.“It’s a take on that,” he said. “A place where we can let our hair down and be ourselves.”Nazarian mostly holds multifamily and student housing assets outside of California in places such as Texas, but he has also acquired boutique hotels, such as Hotel Indigo in Austin.One source, who requested anonymity, estimated the renovations for the 132-key Hotel Amarano at nearly $5 million.The project started before the pandemic; in fact, the initial renovations were originally intended to conclude at the end of March. That was extended into June even as the hotel saw the least amount of guest interaction.“We realized that we can take advantage of the current circumstances and expedite trades and contractor access to the hotel in order to fast-track the completion of the renovations,” Kateb explained. “By providing full access to the trades working in the hotel, without any guest interaction, health safety for everyone was managed accordingly and the trades could work more expeditiously under new COVID rules.”Inside an Amarano room, guests will find new dual showers and a more inviting kitchen area replete with wet bar-like refrigerators and other elements. Amara’s guest quarters have a vanity in the bathroom.The Burbank hotel also took better advantage of existing site amenities.“The number of rooms have great outdoor patios that truly were not utilized,” Kateb said. “We’ve expanded those patios as an extension of the room. You can be working on your laptop (outdoors).”Calabasas faceliftAcross the Valley at Hilton Garden Inn Calabasas, a 142-room renovation is reaching completion. By the end of this month, about 95 rooms will be ready while another 47 rooms will be completed by late October, said Mian, who has five crews working on renovations to continue occupancy during this period.The HGI Calabasas redux has been extensive, with fixes to the individual rooms as well as a new common area and lobby restrooms.  Inside the rooms, bathrooms and sinks have been gutted and replaced with modern bathtubs and glass-door showers. Closet space has been reconfigured to take up less room for travelers.Replacing white wallpaper are new pear-colored walls and soft, dove-gray flourishes to complement red chairs and dark wood furnishings. While Hilton delineated a deadline for the renovation, “the virus changed everything, they got much more lenient,” Mian said. After all, the virus impacted the pace at which municipal bureaucracy and hotel inspectors can work.“It delays everything,” Mian added.Ready for reboundRegarding the hotel industry, Kateb said, “We’ve come a long way” since the darker days of March, April and May.“We’re seeing greater confidence by travelers wanting to travel,” Kateb said. “Corporate demand will gradually come back.”“Some of the confidence is coming back,” Mian said, noting that his hotels have been climbing up to 70 percent occupancy. Of course, pre-COVID, Mian could generate revenue beyond room rates for events, banquets and business conferences, and consumers had no hesitation in packing his hotel restaurants. In Calabasas, he has created outdoor seating areas for the restaurant.While the pandemic dealt a crushing blow to Mian’s revenue stream in Calabasas, in a normal year, Mian said, “that hotel always has very high occupancy.”Based on the hotel’s history, it made sense to double-down on moving forward.“My gut feeling,” Mian said, “is that when (the industry) comes back, I’m going to be ready for business.”

Michael Aushenker
Michael Aushenker
A graduate of Cornell University, Michael covers commercial real estate for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Prior to the Business Journal, Michael covered the community and entertainment beats as a staff writer for various newspapers, including the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, The Palisadian-Post, The Argonaut and Acorn Newspapers. He has also freelanced for the Santa Barbara Independent, VC Reporter, Malibu Times and Los Feliz Ledger.

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