NEWPORT BEACH : Bay Club Remodeling Clears First Hurdle

A $25-million remodeling project that calls for the partial demolition and reconstruction of the Balboa Bay Club won tentative approval from the Planning Commission this week.

The commission’s vote late Thursday night is the first of several approvals needed to remake the club, which was built in 1948 and has long been a private haven for the rich and famous.

The owners seek to expand club space from 155,000 square feet to about 189,000 square feet. The new facility would include a new members-only athletic facility, a 145-room hotel, a restaurant, coffee shop, two bars, a ballroom, four conference rooms and bay-front walkways.

The project seeks to give the club a badly needed overhaul while also providing wider views of the ocean and harbor to residents who live on the inland bluffs overlooking the club.

Three years ago, the Balboa Bay Club failed to win approval for an ambitious $60-million plan that would have nearly doubled the size of the club. That plan attracted opposition from nearby residents, whose views of the ocean and the harbor would have been obstructed by a large new structure. The City Council rejected the plan on a 4-3 vote.

This time, residential groups were much more agreeable to the club’s scaled-down efforts.

“We are very pleased with the new plan,” said John Sturgess, president of the Cliff Haven Community Assn., which represents 354 residents who live within eyeshot of the club.

The private Balboa Bay Club sits on city-owned property along Mariners Mile on West Coast Highway. The club pays the city about $875,000 per year for the ground lease and generates another $500,000 in revenue for the city.