Boutique hotel proposed for Brand

Tim Willert

DOWNTOWN -- The Redevelopment Agency has agreed to assist a developer

who wants to convert a vacant Brand Boulevard office building complex,

including the old Glendale Federal building, into a boutique hotel.

The agency voted Tuesday to loan Nicholson Vertex LP between $5.5

million and $7 million, provided the developer can secure a lender and

suitable hotel operator, Redevelopment Agency Director Jeanne Armstrong

said Monday.

“We think this is just a spectacular place to put a hotel, right in

the middle of our small business district,” Armstrong said. “It will

greatly benefit the small businesses that are located in the middle part

of Brand Boulevard.”

The complex is at North Brand and West Lexington Drive.

Glendale officials project the city would earn $2.9 million in

interest on the 10-year loan and receive between $720,000 and $780,000

per year in hotel occupancy tax revenue.

Additionally, officials estimate Glendale would receive $38,000 in

sales tax annually and $200,000 in tax increment because of higher

property value resulting from the development.

Siavash Barmand, managing partner of Nicholson Vertex, said the hotel

is a good fit for the North Brand area.

“We think it’s a product that Glendale can use,” Barmand said Monday.

“There’s definitely a demand for a high-end, boutique-type hotel.”

The nine-story GlenFed tower that the developer is planning to convert

is eligible for the California Historical Registry. Plans by Nicholson

Vertex to renovate the building, including removing the structure’s

trademark blue louvers, created an uproar among some preservationists.

Barmand said his company is getting input on how to upgrade the

building exterior from the Los Angeles Conservancy. He said he

appreciates the tower’s unique architecture and doesn’t want to

jeopardize it during renovation.

The proposed 3 1/2- to four-star hotel, estimated to cost $30 million,

would have 175 rooms and would offer highly personalized service and

uniquely designed rooms.

The hotel project is proposed for a series of interconnected buildings

at 401 and 413 North Brand and 121 West Lexington that once served as

headquarters for Glendale Federal Savings and Loan.

The buildings, subsequently bought by CalFed, have been vacant for the

past year.

“This project would not be viable without a loan from the city,”

Barmand said.

The amount of the loan, though, won’t be determined until the

developer decides on an operating partner and the hotel’s distinction,

Armstrong said.

Besides the financial benefits, Councilman Rafi Manoukian expects the

hotel to rejuvenate the mid-Brand area and reduce traffic congestion.

“I prefer a hotel to an office building because office buildings

generate more traffic,” Manoukian said Monday. “And I think they’re going

to maintain the property, which means the historic aspect of the building

will be maintained.”