SAN CLEMENTE : Renovation Plans for Casa Romantica
A local businesswoman Tuesday submitted a renovation and vacation resort plan for the historic Casa Romantica mansion and a neighboring city-owned parcel.
Maureen Capielo Gates said her development company is still negotiating with a major hotel/time-share chain for the 3.1-acre oceanfront project, but she’s optimistic a deal will be made by the end of the month.
City officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday about the plan.
The city bought the mansion, built by city founder Ole Hansen on a scenic bluff overlooking the ocean municipal pier, for $2.5 million in 1989. The city also bought a one-acre parcel below the mansion on Alameda Lane for $875,000 in 1987.
In October, the city Redevelopment Agency granted Gates first rights to submit a redevelopment plan for the 66-year-old mansion and vacant Alameda Lane property. Gates leases Casa Romantica from the city for about $9,600 a month for her 9-year-old wedding business, Events By Design.
Gates, working with the San Clemente Historical Society, proposes to buy the properties from the city for $2 million, renovate the Casa Romantica to its former splendor, and build 80 time-share units and a 2,250-square-foot conference center on land to the side of the mansion and on Alameda Lane. In addition, retail shops and an 8,000-square-foot ocean-view restaurant, the Spanish Bay Inn, would be built on the Alameda Lane property.
The mansion itself would be put under the management of a nonprofit foundation and remain open for weddings, community events and a Historical Society museum dedicated to Hansen and Richard Nixon, whose “Western White House” at Cotton’s Point brought much fame to the city in the 1970s.
The mansion and Alameda Lane properties would be connected by a pedestrian walkway, and underground parking for more than 220 cars would be provided.
Gates said the project conforms to the city’s redevelopment plan for the Pier Bowl area, and is considerably less intensive than a 1990 proposal from the Ratkovich Co. that was scuttled because of community opposition.
The plan will be scrutinized by a special five-member committee before being sent to the City Council, which is acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, in mid-March. The plan is subject to public hearings and a review by the California Coastal Commission.
