For a ritzy, trendy, tourist mecca, Venice is seriously lacking luxe hotel options. But maybe not for long: Dan Abrams's Wynkoop Properties has proposed a fancy four-story, 92-room hotel right on Abbot Kinney, and complete with restaurant and day spa. It'd replace restaurants Joe's and Primitivo's, though there's talk of incorporating those buildings into the design (along with neighborly benefits like tree planting, discounts and trivia nights for locals). Venice Neighborhood Council's Planning and Land Use Committee is considering the matter tomorrow. And the neighbors, you ask? Oh, they got beef. A group called Venice for Change (there's an ironic name...) has issued an action alert, calling the project "a disaster for the community," and hopes to rally the troops as effectively as they were rallied back in 2007, when neighbors beat back the proposed-and-rejected Ray Hotel also on Abbot Kinney.
Haters say the proposed hotel, which would have one story more than what's allowed in the neighborhood's specific plan, sets a terrible rule-flouting precedent, and will bring permanent gridlock and a parking apocalypse (check and check). Developers say the fourth story will make the building more attractive, and that they need the space to make up for a high water table that prevents them from going underground, making them uniquely worthy of the variance. And, in our favorite bit of developer pomposity (pdf) in a long while, they also say that the hotel will bring "world-wide benefits." Yep, that ZipCar station and drought tolerant landscaping are going to stop climate change dead in its tracks. Build it now! The planet can't wait!
· Property activity report [Cityhood]
· 'Venice for Change' Action Alert Called for Proposed Abbot Kinney Hotel [Yo! Venice!]
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