Boutique Hotel Project Checks Into Redondo Beach

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Boutique Hotel Project Checks Into Redondo Beach
On Water: Rendering of Shade hotel in Redondo Beach.

Nearly a year after its ceremonial groundbreaking, construction has begun in earnest in Redondo Beach on the second location of Shade, a luxury boutique hotel.

The three-story waterfront property, along with an adjacent three-story event building, is expected to open in November 2015.

The 54-room hotel will be 50,700 square feet with a library, meeting room and roof pool. The separate event building will be 11,600 square feet and feature a restaurant on the ground floor, ballroom space and an open-air sky deck.

Michael Zislis, Shade’s owner, said it was important to make guests feel as close to the beach as possible.

“I wanted to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor, and to have walls that fold away,” he said.

Zislis said each room will have its own balcony with a bathtub on the deck. Guests will also be able to turn a dial near the bed that will change the lighting inside the room to different colors such as red, green or blue.

The cost of the project is about $22 million.

Expanding Shade from its first location in Manhattan Beach was not in the original plan, but Zislis said the flagship location was so busy he knew he needed to do another one.

“We’re at a 98 percent occupancy year round,” said Zislis. “And there’s nowhere to really expand in downtown Manhattan Beach. So, the next logical place was to be waterfront and Redondo Beach had a waterfront site.”

Tom Myers, principal of commercial architecture at Ware Malecomb’s Irvine office, said working on a boutique hotel is a nice change from building out more commercial hotels.

“It’s not often that you get an opportunity to work on a project that’s a boutique hotel by the water,” said Myers. “The other aspect is because it’s boutique it’s almost a custom hotel versus the cookie-cutter type.”


Brazilian Twist

Wetzel’s Pretzels will open its first location in Brazil at the end of this month inside a new shopping center in Vitoria, a city on the southeast coast.

The company plans to open four more locations in Brazil over the next two years through franchisee Richard Holzer.

Bill Phelps, Wetzel’s co-founder and chief executive, said the Pasadena company is continuing its domestic and international expansion by pinpointing high-traffic locations.

“The international market continues to embrace Wetzel’s Pretzels,” he said in a statement. “And with the emergence of a new shopping center in Vitoria, we felt now was the opportune time to bring Wetzel’s to the country.”

The locations will offer the same products sold in the United States, but one twist will be a signature lemonade drink made specifically for the Brazilian market, as well as offering orange juice.

Wetzel’s Pretzel, co-founded by Phelps and Rick Wetzel, opened its first location in Redondo Beach in 1994. There are more than 275 bakeries in the chain; nine are corporate stores and 17 are overseas.

Revolving Doors

Container Store will be opening in August at the Original Farmers Market in the Fairfax District, its second location in the city of Los Angeles. … Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be opening a 31,000-square-foot market in Carson this week. The location replaces Best Way Market and will offer a variety of produce as well as pharmacy services. … French contemporary brand Kooples is set to open a 3,200-square-foot store at 100 S. Robertson Boulevard this week. … Cop. Copine of Paris is planning its first L.A.-area store in Pasadena this summer. The 800-square-foot space will carry women’s apparel and accessories. … New York clothing brand Rag & Bone is planning a 4,200-square foot store on Abbott Kinney in Venice. An opening date has not been announced. … Italian footwear and accessory brand Carlo Pazolini opened its first West Coast store at the Beverly Center last month. The 1,460-square-foot-space carries men’s and women’s shoes, handbags and accessories. … Culver City chain Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has reopened its Hollywood store near the ArcLight theater. The location features a new contemporary sign with a patio and an additional 600 square feet of retail space. … Ford’s Filling Station closed its Culver City restaurant two weeks ago. It will be moving inside L.A. Live’s JW Marriott this fall. … Rite Aid, of Camp Hill, Pa., reopened its Beverly Hills location on North Canon Drive last month. The remodeled store is the first to feature Rite Aid’s new wellness format, featuring a larger pharmacy, an addition of a Fresh Day Café and outdoor patio area. … 1810 Argentinean Restaurant of Pasadena last week opened its second restaurant, in downtown L.A.’s Fashion District. … Women’s contemporary brand Alice + Olivia will be opening a 2,500-square-foot store in West Hollywood this summer. … Clothing brand IRO of Paris opened a 1,800-square-foot space on Abbot Kinney in Venice last week. It sells men’s and women’s apparel, accessories and footwear…. The Springs, a wellness center featuring a yoga studio and vegan café, will be opening its 13,000-square-foot space in downtown L.A.’s Arts District next month.

Staff reporter Subrina Hudson can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 251.

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