Pacific Club’s Owner Sees Faint Hope of Rescue

Although local politicians and some preservationists insist that something can still be done to save the historic Pacific Coast Club from demolition, the city manager and the building’s owner said this week that a last-minute miracle is unlikely.

On Tuesday, Mayor Ernie Kell instructed the city manager to continue working to save the castle-like structure in downtown because it is a “high priority with the city.”

But Kell and the council did not give the manager a specific time-table or request that he return with any further reports.

The fate of the 62-year-old edifice on Ocean Boulevard has become a campaign issue in the mayoral race, in which opponents are criticizing Kell for his vote last year against a plan that would have saved part of the building. Kell is being challenged by eight candidates in the first race since voters decided to make the mayor’s job a full-time elected post.

Owner Awaits Permit

Meanwhile, the building’s owner--who has repeatedly delayed demolition to give preservationists a chance to develop an alternative plan--is awaiting a permit from the city to begin the destruction.

In a report to the City Council, City Manager James Hankla gave a pessimistic outlook in analyzing the latest proposal by a preservationists’ group to turn the now closed club to several uses, including housing for the affluent elderly.

The proposal by the Coalition to Preserve Historic Long Beach would cost the owner at least $6.6 million more than he would receive in income from the project, Hankla reported.

Even that figure is conservative, said building owner Rob Bellevue, who wants to erect a 16-story, $40-million condominium on the site. He estimated his loss at about $10 million per year using the coalition’s plan for elderly housing, a restaurant, a health club and retail stores--a “very high risk” mix of uses.

On Tuesday, Kell announced that the coalition had “new information” that could make a difference.

But Assistant City Manager John Shirey said the new information is an updated version of the same elderly housing plan. This one would increase the number and the size of the units.

Sees No Solution

As he has for over a year, Bellevue said he will continue to look at any new proposals, but cannot see any solution to the fundamental economic and parking problems.

After the council meeting, Kell criticized Bellevue for work that was done inside the building over the weekend. Three weeks ago, the council asked Bellevue to hold off on any demolition pending the city manager’s report. Bellevue said a crew that had recently finished removing asbestos from the club went in--without his knowledge--to wreck some old movie sets and remove rubble. That would be done regardless of what is done with the condemned structure, which once catered to the city’s elite and now is used to film horror movies.

“I can’t believe that he didn’t know about it,” Kell said. “I’m hopeful he’s not going to prove to be another out-of-town developer out here for a quick buck. But that’s the way it looks.”

Told of Remarks

Told of the mayor’s remarks, Bellevue noted that he presented the city with a plan last May for a $50-million hotel project that would have saved part of the building. The council killed the project with a 5-3 vote as the majority agreed with neighboring residents of the Villa Riviera condominiums that the project would infringe on the public beach, blocking shoreline views.

After that, Bellevue went to city officials with a plan to raze the entire building and build condominiums instead. That plan was accepted.

“If my primary motive was profit-making,” Bellevue said, he would not have wasted his time or money by developing the first plan and would have proposed the more profitable condominium project from the beginning. “I have tried to work very, very hard with everyone.”

Saying he is not “another out-of-town-developer out here for a quick buck”--as Kell suggested--Bellevue noted he has two residences. He has one home in northern California, where his office is based, and one in Long Beach, where he lives with one of his sons--a first-grader in the Long Beach Unified School District.