LANCASTER – The City of Lancaster and InSite Development Monday announced plans to add a five-story boutique hotel to The BLVD. The new hotel will be located near Gadsden and Lancaster Boulevard in the space currently occupied by the American Travel Bureau. City officials say the boutique hotel will add another signature touch to The BLVD, which recently underwent a $100 million transformation.
“The BLVD just keeps getting better,” said Mayor R. Rex Parris. “Now that the downtown area is such an overwhelming success, drawing people daily to all it has to offer, it simply makes sense to add a place for visitors to stay right in the heart of town.”
Parris joined City officials, members of The BLVD Association and Insite Development’s Scott Ehrlich at a press conference Monday to announce plans for the new BLVD project.
“The hotel on The BLVD will put the ‘destination’ in Destination Lancaster,” said Ehrlich.
“There are great hotels on the 14 freeway but there’s no where to walk from those hotels. I truly believe, if we build this place, that we are going to get people to stay here who are going to come visit The BLVD,” Ehrlich continued.
Ehrlich said goals for the new boutique hotel include branding with the Starwood name, extremely high-end modern rooms with miniature kitchens, a pool and outdoor area for parties, banquet facilities, a lounge and an amazing lobby.
“If you’ve ever been to the W Hotels… something in that genre, where you walk in and it’s just amazing from the second you walk in,” said Ehrlich. “I can guarantee you this will not be the normal lobby that you see at the other hotels.”
The structure will also include office and retail space in addition to the hotel guest rooms. Additionally, InSite Development is partnering with the City to build 25-30 mobile retail kiosks, which will be strategically placed along the entire BLVD.
“They are going to allow the local Mom and Pops to have a place to sell their items without having to pay the rent of Brick and Mortar,” said Ehrlich. “Kiosks will provide the same feel as a mall, so that you’re coming to The BLVD and you can buy everything from little trinkets to big things.”
“What we’re seeing is people would much rather have this experience than the mall experience,” Parris added.
Ehrlich says the kiosks are being constructed locally and he’s hoping to have the first model ready to be unveiled at the next City Council Meeting. He says all kiosks will have a unified theme and color that tie in with the aesthetics of The BLVD.
An application process for the kiosks has not yet been established, however, Ehrlich says interested businesses should contact InSite Development at 818-789-5550 and ask for Corey.
Parris says the new BLVD project is one of several big things planned for The BLVD.
“We’re going to know that we are successful when we get rid of the cars,” said Parris. “What I see is trolleys and closing The Blvd off…”
Parris said he will be making other big announcements at the next City Council meeting.
“We’ve got other big and great things that are coming that are going to change the world,” said Parris. “I could promise you, they will be world changing. Come to the meeting, we’ve got more announcements for you.”
Construction of the complex is scheduled to begin in mid-2012, with completion expected in 2013.
Doc Rivers says
I have heard of hookers at the Bex nightclub during the week but overall the Blvd seems sedate most of the time.
William says
if not deserted.
Eric Moore says
YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT, take a look at your propety taxes and look at the Re-assesment that you are getting, and YOU are paying for the SHINNY BLVD, and all the subsidized business and housing around it, if you own property or are a business owner, you are paying the bill and it is only the beggining….did we not learned form the FACTORY OUTLET? just take a drive there and that is the future of the BLVD once they run out of YOUR money to keep it going, just take a drive to the Outlet place….that is all you have to do… don’t let anyone tell anything…check for yourself….
William says
Look at what has been accomplished in Palmdale in the last 20 years despite several recessions compared to Lancaster. Two great parks on the east and west sides, the new medical center, Trader Joe’s, Macy’s, Yard House and many other restaurants and so on.
Lancaster landscaped the off-ramps at Avenue L and Lancaster Blvd. The fairgrounds and the courthouse have simply moved from one place to another. Oh, an there’s a new Foster’s Freeze on K.
I wonder if Parris has investments in landscaping companies.
Matt Keltner says
I have known that Starwood planned on bringing its brand to the Antelope Valley, but I didn’t expect it to be on the BLVD. Starwood has a brand called “The Element” which is trendy and would fit well there.
William says
So, Parris wants both a roundabout at 10th Street West and Lancaster Blvd. and the elimination of cars too. Hmmm. How are people going to get to the BLVD in the first place, park in the Mall parking lot in Palmdale and take a bus?
Parris seems to intend to have a war with malls or THE mall, it appears. Good luck. The AV Mall looks pretty successful even without Parris’s boosterism and BS.
I’ve gone to the BLVD many times in the last year out of curiousity to see what the big deal is. While the landscaping is nice, the shops, what few there are, aren’t that big a deal. There are only 2-3 block worth walking down. The AV Mall doesn’t have to worry.
Jo says
What was said about the acreage needed on the west side for solar?
Something along the line of “We can use emanate domain. The owners probably live in Iran or Korea. A lot are dead.”?
I’m sure they’ll be moved.
Stinger says
Question 1: What is going to happen to the business that has been there for so many years?
S. Parker says
That place is an eye sore anyway. With its cracked faded paint and wooden appearance it looks like an old shanty that has no place on the current BLVD. I always wondered how they made any money. With everyone making travel plans online now, the travel agent industry is pretty much dead. Perhaps they will relocate to one of the shiny new kiosks?
Matt Keltner says
I always thought that little wooden building would have made a good little used bookstore or metaphysical book store. It has that vibe. So you think it’s going to meet the wrecking ball?
Jo says
Does anyone else see all the “shiny new” EMPTY strip malls throughout Lancaster? Turn ANY corner and you’ll see all kinds of real estate sitting empty in this town. Whether we’re talking whole neighborhoods W/O people, brand new strip malls, the outlet mall, valley central way, the east side.
Come on folks. Do you really believe one solitary 1/2 mile of city street is gonna save us? Guess rex believes if he kicks enough businesses off the blvd, he’ll get them to rent Lancaster’s numerous low budget, ugly, non-supported by the city’s many blvd stimulus programs, locations. Or maybe they’ll just move to Palmdale.
William says
There is something odd about Lancaster. That cineplex out in the middle of nowhere. The new one at the AV Mall is next to a number of restaurants and a hotel and the Mall.
The old Factory outlet with no immediate freeway access off Lancaster Blvd.
Like you said, tired old half-empty shopping centers. It looks like either no one is in charge or the people in charge are self-serving. Take your pick.
The BLVD isn’t convenient to get to except for the immmediate old surrounding neighborhoods. Why would someone stay at a ‘trendy’ hotel on the BLVD; to eat at BeX or walk down to the drug store at the other end for Viagra and Metamusil?