Pomona-Based Group May Covert Cabrillo Bathhouse

The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks has recommended that a Pomona-based partnership renovate the historic bathhouse at Cabrillo Beach--a decision that has drawn fire from a San Pedro developer who has made a specialty of restoring the community’s aging buildings.

The Hurricane Gulch Development Co.--a partnership that takes its name from the popular San Pedro windsurfing spot--has been selected to convert the 70-year-old bathhouse into a restaurant and retail complex. The decision is not final; it must be approved by the city’s Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners.

The Hurricane Gulch group was chosen over a proposal submitted by the San Pedro Bay Co., headed by developer Gary Larson, in conjunction with the Santa Monica-based Janss Corp.

Larson, who has renovated the Arcade Building in downtown San Pedro and is restoring the John T. Gaffey Building there, complained in an interview Wednesday that his competitor’s bid--which promises a more lucrative return for the city--is not financially feasible.

He said he intends to ask the parks commissioners, who are scheduled to consider the recommendation Aug. 28, to hire an independent analyst to review both proposals.

“We don’t think either of them were analyzed enough,” Larson said.

Both the recreation official in charge of the bathhouse project and one of the partners in Hurricane Gulch disputed Larson’s claim.

More Rent Promised

“I think if anyone looks at the proposals they would realize that we have the stronger proposal,” said partner Charles Pilcher, whose proposal called for the city to receive more money in rent than did Larson’s.

The bathhouse, built in 1929, was home to the Cabrillo Marine Museum for many years until the museum moved out in 1981. It has been vacant since then; several years ago, city officials began looking for someone to renovate the 20,000-square-foot building and lease it from the city on a long-term basis, perhaps for as long as 35 years.

In 1987, Larson and Fredric Hope--a designer who has since become a partner in Hurricane Gulch--proposed the restaurant and retail complex. Larson and Hope had a falling out, according to Larson, when Hope asked to bring a third partner into the project.

Hope could not be reached for comment.

According to Keith Fitzgerald, management analyst for the Recreation and Parks Department, when the city issued a formal request for proposals, both Hurricane Gulch and the San Pedro Bay Co. submitted plans that were nearly identical, with the exception of the amount of rent that was to be paid the city.

Fitzgerald said the Hurricane Gulch proposal calls for the city to receive 6% of the gross receipts generated by the project, while the San Pedro Bay Co. plan calls for vendors in the project to pay Larson’s company 5% of gross receipts, and for the city to receive 6% of that amount.

“His (Larson’s) proposal shows that all the profit is going to his company and not much to the city,” Fitzgerald said.

Larson, however, replied that by his calculations, the building would not even turn a profit for the first two years, and that much of what Fitzgerald believes would be profit would go toward paying the mortgage.