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Community development director: Hawthorne Suites hotel team to resubmit redesigned proposal after bank declined original financing
Summary
Duarte's community development director said the proposed Hawthorne Suites hotel did not secure funding for the previously approved design; the developer plans a revised application with a new team and a different unit count rather than proceed under the prior entitlement.
At the Sept. 9 meeting the Duarte City Council received an update from Craig Hensley, director of community development, about the Hawthorne Suites hotel project and its entitlement status.
Hensley said the project did not obtain bank financing for the design that had been previously approved, and the developer has regrouped with a new consultant team and hotel consultant to produce a new application. “They weren't able to get that project funded,” Hensley said. He explained the prior concept relied on costly subterranean parking and podium construction that made the project economically infeasible for lenders.
Hensley said the developer is preparing a redesigned proposal that will likely change the unit count and configuration; the new application will need to go through the standard entitlement process. When asked about timing, Hensley said it depends on how long the architect takes to produce revised plans and that city review generally takes two to three months after submission. He added that although the project’s previous entitlement would have expired in October, the pause for redesign is not necessarily negative because the prior entitlement would have expired regardless.
Council members asked whether the bank’s funding conditions had prompted the developer to replace team members; Hensley answered that lenders commonly require changes such as a hotel consultant and that the developer’s new team could make the revised proposal more fundable. Council members also asked about maximum allowable height; Hensley said zoning would allow up to 50 feet and that four stories is the economically common outcome, though a fifth story is not impossible under development standards.
No council action or approvals occurred at the meeting. Hensley said staff expects to receive new plans and walk the developer through the entitlement steps when an application is filed.
