Chamber supports hotel project

Karen S. Kim

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- The Glendale Chamber of Commerce has decided to

throw its support behind an Embassy Suites Hotel project proposed for

Burchett Street, despite pleas for opposition from its longtime member

Conrad’s Restaurant.

“It’s a very, very hard decision,” chamber Executive Director Judee

Kendall said. “It has nothing to do with Conrad’s. It’s the purpose of

the chamber to look at what’s best for business in Glendale.”

Conrad’s co-owner Tony Dalkas and his attorney, Craig Beardsley,

approached the chamber in March to ask for its support in opposing the

proposed hotel project.

The hotel would become neighbors with Conrad’s Restaurant, which has

been a chamber member since 1979.

Dalkas and Beardsley told the chamber’s City and County Issues

Committee that the restaurant was opposed to the size of the proposed

hotel, alleging that a 160-foot, 277-room hotel is too large for a

44,776-square-foot project site.

City staff has said that the project is within city guidelines for its

size.

The chamber met with city officials and the designers and developers

of the Embassy Suites Hotel project before making its decision, Kendall

said.

“The designers have done a fantastic job,” Kendall said. “It doesn’t

overshadow Conrad’s as much as it once did, and it looks good for the

space it’s going on. I think they’ve done a good job of making it work.”

Officials from Hilton Hotel Corp., which owns Embassy Suites Hotels,

declined to comment on the proposed project.

The chamber plans to either send a letter of support or personally

speak to the City Council on behalf of the Embassy Suites proposal.

Kendall said she hopes the hotel will benefit all chamber members,

including Conrad’s.

“We hope that it will bring more business to Tony,” she said. “Even

though we know it’s sensitive, we kind of stood back and took a look and

said, ‘OK, what’s best for the city and best for the business in the

city.”’

When asked for comment, Dalkas referred calls to Beardsley, who is out

of town.