Despite previous resistance, the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort will move forward with its plan to expand its buildings and add more rooms to the hotel.
The Santa Barbara Historic Landmarks Commission voted 8-0 on Dec. 3 to grant final approval to Hilton Santa Barbara, allowing the hotel to add 73 rooms to its facilities.
The expansion will increase the room count from 360 to 433 at the hotel, located at 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd.
The plans presented to the commission were largely similar to plans submitted in June, with some changes to the exterior of the future building.
One of the main comments from the commissioners had to do with the size of the molding on the outside of the building and the awnings. Representatives for the hotel said management asked them to remove the awnings from the plan because they are not present in other parts of the resort and are a nuisance to maintain.
Despite the comments on the designs, the commissioners expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the designs.
“I find it very supportable,” Commissioner Dennis Doordan said. “The presentation that we saw addressed the questions that were asked the last time to my satisfaction.”
Part of the project will include the removal or remodeling of the resort’s facilities, including Building A, the Azalea and Building B, the Bougainvillea.
The resort will add 50,195 square feet to the Bougainvillea for the new rooms. Six of the building’s rooms will be reconfigured, and two more will be removed entirely. The Azalea will be completely removed, along with the hotel’s tennis courts and tennis shop.
After construction is completed, the size of the resort will increase from 329,780 square feet to 375,708 square feet — an increase of 45,928 square feet.
Even though the hotel will be increasing its room count, it will be losing parking spots. The number of on-site parking spaces will decrease from 931 to 880. However, the plans will increase the number of bicycle spaces from 58 to 100.
The Santa Barbara Planning Commission approved the plan in May.
The expansion faced a challenge earlier this year when the hotel employee union, Unite Here Local 11, opposed the plans based on a promise in 2016 by the hotel of a 100-room affordable hostel.
However, the hotel has a development agreement that was approved in the 1980s and does not require it to build housing on the site, according to the city. The Hilton, formerly known as the Red Lyon and then The Fess Parker, was built in 1986 by the Fess Parker family.
The Santa Barbara City Council rejected an appeal of the expansion plans in September.