Deal Discussed to Revitalize Harbor Property
Aiming to revive the struggling Channel Islands Harbor, Ventura County officials hope by year’s end to finalize an agreement to revamp a major hotel and restaurant on prime waterfront property.
The deal being negotiated with Channel Islands Properties calls for a major overhaul of the aging and under-used Casa Sirena hotel on Peninsula Road and replacing it with an upscale 250-room resort to be run by a national chain, said Supervisor John Flynn, a key figure in the negotiations.
The Lobster Trap restaurant, adjacent to the hotel, and a struggling strip mall at Victoria Avenue and Channels Islands Boulevard also could undergo a renovation as part of the plan. The mall, called Fisherman’s Wharf, has been a financial disappointment in recent years to many retailers and city officials.
Flynn said the county also is gathering grant money to build a marine research center on the west side of the harbor, north of the Whale’s Tail restaurant, and wants to expand or rebuild its Maritime Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Flynn predicted the entire effort would lead to a thriving harbor that attracts local residents, tourists, students and professors from the planned Cal State Channel Islands near Camarillo.
Steve Kinney, president of the Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corp., said Oxnard could benefit from the county’s plans. Although the harbor is in Oxnard, the county controls the land flanking it and grants leases to its tenants.
“Having a successful harbor there is a critical piece in the entire city’s tourism program,” Kinney said. “That would help all the other attractions in the city, everything from shopping to museums to festivals that take place in the city.”
In exchange for renovating the hotel, Channel Islands Properties wants an extension on its long-term lease on apartment buildings along the harbor. That would allow the company to retain control of the apartments for at least the next 50 years. The upscale rental units, with views of the water, are in high demand in a tight rental market.
Channel Islands’ chief operating officer, Steven C. Walton, declined to discuss details of the deal but said he is pleased with the recent discussions and is anxious to begin sprucing up the harbor properties.
Channel Islands Properties is a subsidiary of the New York-based firm that bought out Oxnard property magnate Martin V. “Bud” Smith’s holdings five years ago.
Flynn said the revitalization effort would cost several million dollars and could be complete by 2003.
Kinney said the renovated hotel and restaurant could finally bring life to the quaint but often deserted harbor that in recent years has seen vacancy rates of more than 30%.
“Unrealized potential is big down there,” he said.
