Hotel Project Near Ventura Mission Gets New Location

Backers of a $5-million hotel project planned for downtown Ventura have selected a new location after negotiations to build adjacent to the historic San Buenaventura Mission failed.

The Albinger Archeological Museum, also in downtown Ventura, was chosen as the possible alternative.

The Hogan Family Foundation, supported by travel magnate Ed Hogan, wanted to build a 100-room California Mission Inn on church-owned land along Main Street just east of the 219-year-old mission.

But the foundation and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles could not agree on the financial details of the nonprofit project, said Charles Melber, the project’s administrator and contractor.

“Mr. Hogan’s gotten really discouraged,” he said.

Although discussions with the archdiocese did not work out, local church officials support the ongoing project, which is intended to help the mission, said Msgr. Patrick J. O’Brien, the mission’s pastor.

“We’re very grateful for Mr. Hogan’s munificence,” O’Brien said. “We will cooperate with Mr. Hogan in any way that we can.”

The Albinger museum is in a converted auto garage on about an acre of city-owned land. The site, at 113 E. Main St., is west of the mission and across from Mission Park. The building would be torn down to make way for the hotel.

“We’re doing everything we can not to let this project die,” said Doug Halter, chairman of the redevelopment committee for the Downtown Community Council.

The hotel would be the first of a planned chain to highlight the history and culture of California’s missions while supporting them financially. The foundation would pay to build the hotel, and it still plans to direct all profits to the San Buenaventura Mission.

Last week, Hogan and Melber met with Downtown Community Council representatives to discuss other potential sites and settled on the Albinger location. The foundation, which hopes to persuade the city to donate the property, is considering incorporating the small museum’s collection into its final plans, possibly by erecting an additional building.

Hogan and Melber are to meet Dec. 28 with city redevelopment officials to discuss building at the Albinger location. Construction of the 54,000-square-foot hotel would take about a year, Melber said.

Although the Albinger site raises concerns about blocking neighbors’ ocean views, limited parking and possibly buried artifacts, the community council continues to enthusiastically support the hotel project, Halter said.

“We see it as a major boost for downtown,” said Halter, who co-owns the Laurel Theatre. “He’s coming in at a great time. What we want to do is promote cultural tourism.”

Because the inn would be built without its own restaurant, guests would likely patronize restaurants in the area and also visit shops downtown.

The hotel project has already received administrative approval by the city for its design and development plan, said Alex Herrera, a senior planner with Ventura’s economic development and revitalization division.

The downtown area already has about a dozen hotels with a total of 786 rooms, according to the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau. But a project like the Mission Inn would become a destination in itself, rather than just a place for people to sleep, Herrera said.

“They would be bringing tours from outside the local, regional area,” he said. “It’s not only an area to come and spend the night, it’s part of a complete California tour.”

Several area hotels are in dire need of renovations, Halter said. A new high-quality establishment would raise the bar for others while giving tourists another reason to come to Ventura, he said.

The more good hotels downtown, the better, said Jim Bennett, general manager of the Holiday Inn at the foot of California Street. A number of Ventura hotels are already planning significant upgrades, he said.

“If everybody gets to do what they want to do, Ventura’s hotel community will be set on its ear,” Bennett said. “Folks are going to have something very nice in Ventura. It’s going to make a statement.”

Hogan said he developed the Mission Inn plan because of his admiration for Junipero Serra, the priest who founded the San Buenaventura Mission and eight more of California’s 21 missions, said Dale Cowgill, the foundation’s public affairs and development coordinator.

Each inn would have a pool and a courtyard, where storytellers would gather each day to share information about California history and the mission system, Cowgill said.

“It’s Mr. Hogan’s dream to build a chain of these Mission Inns up the coast of California,” she said.

The Hogan family owns and operates three hotels in Hawaii.