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Tamalpais hotel and spa still awaiting approval

AFTER REVISIONS TO DESIGN, 300-ROOM PROJECT DOWN TO 71 ROOMS 30 YEARS LATER

TAMALPAIS VALLEY – After more than 30 years worth of attempts to bring a large hotel to the Tamalpais Valley coastline, one thing is for certain – developer Jack Krystal is not a quitter.

The project that started as a 12-story, 300-room inn and spa has dwindled to just four stories and 71 rooms in an attempt to appease planners; but even now in its most recent applications, it might not please the panel still.

“I may have been a little ahead of the times when I bought this property in the ‘70s, but I envisioned it at the time as being the right place for a hotel, at the gateway of Marin, on the water and across from Muir Woods,” said Mr. Krystal, Littoral Development owner and principal on the project.

“I only pick projects that are close to my heart. I don’t just do it for the sake of doing it. You only have a limited time on this earth, and my feeling is you must leave a fingerprint you can be proud of.”

The Whaler’s Point Hotel, if approved, will be located next to Shoreline Office Center and the Redwood Highway heliport site overlooking Richardson Bay. The only other hotel in the area is a few miles down Highway 101 and is a former Howard Johnson hotel, also produced by Mr. Krystal, though it has since been converted into a Holiday Inn Express.

Senior planner for the project, Christine Gimmler, said the county received the most recent round of applications about three weeks ago, and she is in the process of reviewing the document.

She said normally for a project this size, the developer would be asked to complete an expensive environmental impact report, but instead the hotel application will go to a pre-hearing to consult with policymakers before Mr. Krystal is asked to fund the review.

“Even though it has been downsized considerably, the design still has some inconsistencies with community plans, so we are doing the hearing with the commission first to get feedback early,” Ms. Gimmler said.

“The Tamalpais community has very specific policies for this plot as far as height and other parameters. Over the years we have encouraged the applicant to submit a project that conforms to the county policies, but they are not ordinances, so it is just up to the policymakers if they are comfortable with a project that is larger than what is in the plan.”

Mr. Krystal said the plan that was adopted in the early ‘90s is in desperate need of updating, and the hotel could bring some much needed revenue to the county in a decade with declining property taxes and state and federal funding cuts.

“I imagine this project could bring anywhere from half million to three quarters of a million in revenues to the county per year through hotel taxes, property taxes and sales taxes,” he said. “It will also create many jobs for people that have to commute down 101 to get to work.”

Ms. Gimmler said the public hearing has not been scheduled but will likely take place in late summer or early fall. She said the community has shown mixed feelings toward the project.

“There has been a moderate amount of feedback, but it has never gotten to the point where we send out public notices,” she said. “We’ve gotten a mix of feedback from people who support it and think it would be a desirable development and others who feel it is too big and think it should conform to size requirements.”

In past years, the project was repeatedly delayed by revisions to the design and then altercations with the county about certain fees Mr. Krystal was asked to pay. Also, the planner was involved in a lengthy tangle with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission over the plot’s property lines and proximity to protected coastal lands.

In the most recent plan, the 69,000-square-foot hotel and spa will be situated on a 3.3 acre plot and includes plans for a walking path, solar panels and other green attributes, a small restaurant and personal patios and balconies. Rooms will run between about $125 and $200.