BEVERLY HILLS, CA-Beny Alagem and Oasis West Realty, owners of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, hope to follow a soon-to-be-completed $80-million renovation of the property with a $500-million project that would include 96 new upgraded luxury hotel rooms and a 104 unit condo-hotel. The project, which would require approval of Beverly Hills city officials, is described by the hotel ownership as a long-term plan to "protect the hotel's future competitiveness."
The plan for the nine-acre hotel property on the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards would upgrade the entire property into "a resort-like environment that would include a sub-tropical garden" along with the new luxury rooms, a wisteria-rooftop garden, a new tree-lined entry for the hotel, a transformed executive meeting center, an expanded hotel pool area with cabanas. The condo-hotel would provide 50 to 75 hotel rooms daily.
The building ownership hired Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and landscape architects Peter Walker & Partners last year to "define the next 50 years" for the property, which was built in 1955. Those firms teamed with Gensler and Associates architects to create what the hotel ownership calls the "Oasis Plan" for the property's future.
Alagem, chairman of Oasis West, says that keys to the plan will include "right-sizing" the hotel room count to create a total of up to 523 high-end luxury rooms in order to maximize room rate and occupancy. The new plan will create 50% more open space and will include water-saving measures, a transportation and parking plan, and other measures designed to elevate both the quality and efficiency of the property.
The hotel's owners will continue to meet with city officials to further shape the plan, which will also undergo public review. The Beverly Hilton was owned by entertainer Merv Griffin from 1987 to 2003. Alagem and Oasis West Realty LLC bought the property in late 2003.
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Written by: Bob Howard