A local nonprofit has filed an appeal against the city’s plans to demolish the historic Varden Hotel in Downtown and replace it with an eight-story residential housing development.
The Long Beach City Council will hear an appeal against the city’s plans to create a new downtown housing development in the place of the currently vacant historic Varden Hotel at its Feb. 6 meeting.
The site of the proposed development is currently occupied by the Varden Hotel, a three-story 35-unit hotel originally opened in 1929, at 335 Pacific Avenue in Downtown Long Beach.
The proposed residential development is an eight-story building with 141 dwelling units — including 16 for very low-income tenants — plus an underground parking structure and a rooftop amenity space.
The demolition of the hotel and the subsequent construction of a multi-family housing development by Studio One Eleven was approved by the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission last July and confirmed by the Planning Commission in November 2023.
Following the decision by the Planning Commision, a third-party appeal was filed by Lozeau Drury LLP, representing Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility (SAFER).
According to staff reports “the appeal asserts that the Project is not within the scope of the Downtown Plan PEIR, LUEP, PEIR Addendum, or previous CEQA documents …”
SAFER is a Covina-based nonprofit that advocates for environmental quality, protection and beautification through various administrative and judicial appeals.
They have previously appealed a handful of developments throughout the state, including a pair appeals in Oceanside that were both rejected in June 2023 according to the San Diego Union-Tribune as well as a mixed-use project in Pasadena that was appealed for an “inadequate” environmental review in October 2023 according to Pasadena Now.
The appeal questions the potential environmental impact of the development since the plans began before current downtown environmental objectives were put in place.
According to staff reports “the appeal asserts that the Project is not within the scope of the Downtown Plan PEIR, LUEP, PEIR Addendum, or previous CEQA documents …”
The Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) Compliance Checklist evaluated the plans for the project and no further environmental study has been deemed necessary, according to staff reports.
City staff requests the City Council deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission’s decision to approve the Site Plan Review for the project. Councilmembers will listen to both sides of the appeal at their Feb. 6 meeting.
Though the Varden Hotel is slated for permanent closure, the new development is required to keep the hotel’s rooftop sign. The sign reading “Bath In Every Room” in neon red and blue was deemed a local historical landmark in 1995 and was reinstalled in 2014.
Under the proposed plan, the sign will be removed at least a month before the demolition, then refurbished and reinstalled on the seventh-story amenities deck in the southeast corner of the building.
The Varden Hotel also has two murals that were painted during the first iteration of Long Beach Walls: “Dolly Varden” by James Jean and “The American Way” by Tristan Eaton. The plans for the new building include expanded mural areas and the building applicant has reached out to Jean and Eaton to paint replacement murals.
The Long Beach City Council will hear the appeal against the proposed Pacific Avenue development at its Feb. 6 meeting, taking place at the Long Beach City College Liberal Arts Campus (4901 E. Carson St.) in Building T, Room 1100 at 5 p.m.
Residents can attend the meeting in-person or stream it live on LBTV.com or on the city’s YouTube page.
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