3 New Hotels Proposed for Harbor Boulevard

The city’s Redevelopment Agency is negotiating with three major hotel chains eager to bring as many as 700 new rooms to Harbor Boulevard in anticipation of Disneyland’s planned expansion.

Matt Fertal, director of community development, said the largest of the hotels would be a “whole service” facility of about 350 rooms. Two other smaller “limited service” hotels would offer about 170 rooms each.

While Fertal wouldn’t disclose which chains are negotiating for space, he said the largest is planning to include banquet facilities on the site and be similar in size to the existing Hyatt Alicante Hotel. The smaller hotels are expected to be six to seven stories each.

Plans call for the hotels to line Harbor Boulevard from Chapman Avenue north to the city limits near Yucca Avenue. The existing Hyatt Alicante on Chapman Avenue would anchor the string of hotels.

Fertal estimated that nearly $2 million in bed taxes would pour into city coffers once the facilities are open to the public. He declined to release the Redevelopment Agency’s budget for the project.

City officials already have alerted property owners on Harbor Boulevard that negotiations with the hotels are underway, and formal appraisals of the parcels are expected next week.

The Redevelopment Agency plans to purchase--then demolish--one 96-unit apartment complex and three motels in the city’s deteriorating area in the Yucca/Sage District to make room for the hotel expansion.

“We’ve been watching the area over the past couple of years and have implemented a plan to stabilize it,” Fertal said. “We’re a little surprised that so much interest [from hotels] developed sooner rather than later. We thought it would be further down the road.”

Fertal said final plans and agreements with the hotel developers are expected by late next month.