Plans for Dana Point Harbor hotels remain docked over job protection concerns
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Bob Olson walked up to Orange County supervisors on Tuesday and preached the economic benefits two hotels in Dana Point Harbor would bring in completing its revitalization.
To get there, a board supermajority would have to approve new 66-year ground lease agreements.
A key developer with Dana Point Harbor Partners, Olson claimed that a planned luxury boutique hotel and surf lodge would provide about $12 million in rent to the county, which owns the harbor.
Dana Point would also receive $41 million in bed tax revenue in the first 10 years, Olson argued.
With an expected 200 jobs created, the hotels would see a tenfold increase over current staffing levels at the smaller Dana Point Marina Inn.
Some Orange County supervisors want to iron out protections for soon-to-be displaced workers before approving new leases for the revitalization of Dana Point Harbor.
“We are ready to move forward,” Olson told supervisors. “We need these leases split out so that we can get the financing done and move ahead.”
But job protections for more than a dozen remaining Marina Inn workers remained a sticking point, as it had been for the past two meetings regarding the leases, and led to a deadlocked 2-2 vote with one abstention.
“We need to have the protection for the workers,” said Board Chair Doug Chaffee, who voted against the leases. “That’s a very simple thing, really. There aren’t very many of them. I’m not willing to go forward with these other items until it’s been cured.”
The revitalization of Dana Point Harbor dates back to 2018, when the board approved original lease agreements to move it forward. Despite initial delays, the phased redevelopment of the marina and the commercial corridor has brought the project to about 70% completion.
Developers have argued that splitting the original leases would allow them to secure the necessary financing for the hotels away from marina and commercial revitalization. Delays would scuttle construction plans to be open in time for the L.A. Summer Olympics in 2028, with neighboring San Clemente hosting surfing competitions at Trestles Beach.
Nineteen Marina Inn workers, who are not unionized, are fighting for retention rights.
Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents hotel workers, has supported job protections as part of the lease agreements during the past three supervisor meetings this summer.
“We thank the Board of Supervisors for demanding worker retention for Marina Inn workers impacted by the Dana Point Harbor development,” said Maria Hernandez, a union spokesperson.
The hotel workers union particularly thanked supervisors Katrina Foley, Vicente Sarmiento, Don Wagner and Chaffee for their support over the summer.
Wagner has brought up the nearly 200 Wind & Sea steakhouse workers who stand to lose their jobs when the restaurant closes next month.
He lodged a bigger complaint about lease terms that grant the county free meeting room access up to six times a year.
If the stalemate with supervisors continues, Olson has said that developers would consider renovating the Marina Inn at a lower economic benefit than the development of two new hotels.
Earlier this month, Chaffee and Sarmiento declined to approve the new leases without a firm written commitment to retain Marina Inn hotel workers, in either the lease agreements or a side letter to them.
Olson offered assurances that the hotel’s contracted manager would transfer workers to other area hotels in its portfolio.
On Tuesday, developers had not moved forward on that front enough to gain the required four votes from the five-member board.
Supervisors first discussed the project confidentially in closed session with unspecified direction given to Mat Miller, the county’s real estate officer.
Back before the public, Foley, who represents the Fifth District that encompasses Dana Point Harbor, attempted to move the lease agreements along while continuing conversations regarding worker retention.
She sought to have the leases split but also wanted sections from the agreement on remodeling removed so that staff could work with developers on an interim agreement.
“There is nothing imminent about anything to do with the employees of the Marina Inn,” she said. “It is unlikely that we will see any change in terms of the Marina Inn staffing needed this year. This gives an opportunity to work out those details, but to move forward with the bifurcation.”
Sarmiento supported Foley’s motion for the sake of discussion.
While he said he would have liked to see a labor peace agreement in the lease, he didn’t think it politically possible with the board.
Sarmiento did call worker retention guarantees a “precondition” for anything going forward as Foley’s motion failed with Chaffee and Wagner voting against it while supervisor Janet Nguyen abstained.
“I don’t think anybody wants to discourage investment being made into a county asset,” Sarmiento said. “I think that’s something that all of us see benefit with, even the workers.”
