By Lori Weisberg / San Diego Union-Tribune / January 14, 2024
Largely hidden within the sprawling Paradise Point resort on Mission Bay are inviting sandy beaches and hundreds of public parking spaces that many locals and visitors are unaware they are free to use.
The California Coastal Commission, which last September fined Paradise Point $1 million for years of unpermitted development that interfered with public access, is close to signing off on a sweeping new plan aimed at ensuring that the public will be able to easily stroll along the shoreline, sunbathe on the beach and park free of charge at Mission Bay — all within the vacation resort.
The hotel’s ownership — a Maryland real estate investment trust — already has paid the fine and has since been in months-long discussions with the commission’s enforcement staff on a 46-page draft plan outlining the steps it will take to put in new signs, remove obstructions to walkways, and build new public restrooms near the beach.
The document is not yet finalized, and there remain a few sticking points — like how to best implement a requirement of the Coastal Commission for dozens of additional EV charging stations and where exactly to add additional walkways to make it easy for visitors to walk around the waterfront — said Rob Moddelmog, statewide enforcement analyst for the commission.
Moddelmog said he wants to make sure every little detail is covered in the plan. That is no easy task given the enormity of the agreement that was worked out to settle multiple violations dating back years, some of which predated the current ownership. Paradise Point, which began life as Vacation Village, has been a fixture on Mission Bay for six decades.
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I thought this was supposed to become a Margaritaville resort. Is that no longer the case?
Good memory Chris. Yes, the Rag reported in August 2019:
Margaritaville To Take Over Paradise Point in Mission Bay
Guests at Mission Bay’s Paradise Point resort will next year find themselves wasting away in Margaritaville, as the Jimmy Buffett hotel and restaurant brand will become the new name and face of the 44-acre vacation destination [Ed: which btw sits on public land]. Earlier in July, Pepplebrook Hotel Trust, the publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns Paradise Point Resort & Spa, executed a licensing agreement with Margaritaville Holdings to convert the property to a Margaritaville Island Resort. To assist with the transition, Pebblebrook plans to spend $35 million on an extensive renovation that includes upgrades to the 462 casita-style guestrooms, enhancements to the hotel’s existing five pools, and the addition of attractions that should be inviting for guests and locals alike.
New features could include additional bar and dining concepts, a performance stage and possibly changes to the pool areas. It’s scheduled to open in 2020, although plans are still preliminary, and city and state agency approvals are required. The Maryland-based firm was formed in 2009 and owns 60 hotels, seven in San Diego, with a total of 14,463 guest rooms. It acquired Paradise Point as part of a larger, $5.2 billion transaction to take over the entire portfolio owned by LaSalle Hotel Properties. Real estate tracker CoStar pegs Paradise Point’s individual sticker price as just under $189 million. San Diego Union-Tribune
https://obrag.org/2019/08/ocean-beach-and-point-loma-news-early-august-2019/
So is it still slated to become a Margaritaville or did JB’s death cause any change in plans?
ugh. Guess we’ll see. Margaritaville ruined my hometown, Key West. And Buffett was a friend of mine back in the early 70s, before all this mushroomed into resort/restaurant/theme park/ national usurp of our beloved coastlines
Its all a shell game of big players, and CCC (a 1 million dollar fine? really?!) has, in the greater scheme of things, done very little to protect and ensure the public’s real access to, and preservation of, these areas.
Interesting. I’ve never been to Key West but always assumed it to be kind of Margaritavilleish even if there wasn’t an actual Margaritaville.
But yeah I agree, ugh!! I’m sure Jimmy Buffet himself was a good dude but I never got into his music and found the whole Parrot Head thing irksome and just plain lame. Guess we all have our likes and dislikes.
I have heard the company can be on the shady side. And I figure if Paradise Point does become a Margaritaville, it will attract the type of tourists who will probably opt to just stay on campus rather then spend money out and around San Diego. Then again, if one is chilling at Rocky’s, who really wants a parrothead to invade their space?
Probably a nice bike ride to Key West :-)
I’d love to do a Keys island hop.
It was a very close vote at the Coastal Commission.
The first picture is of the Hilton whi h is now the san diego mission bay resort.
Paradise point had a security kiosk at the entrance preventing people who were not hotel guests from driving in. They got greedy. And now thier screwed. It was a great secret while it lasted. No crowds. A secret little jungle. But the beaches are not pleasant at all. The dock is great though. The cove is horribly polluted. The shoreline north of the dock is OK, but it’s a sandbar so you walk out forever knee deep then your in the boat channel. I can’t see anything making it better. Just will bring crowds in and will no longer be worth going at all. I remember the first time I biked I to the place and felt like I wasn’t in San diego anymore. It’s a trip.
“And now they’re screwed.”
Oh boy, nothing gets by you!
Do you still like green eggs and ham?