Sand City >> After a quarter century, developer Ed Ghandour’s Monterey Bay Shores Eco-resort project has finally broken ground in the dunes of Sand City.
“We started grading last Saturday,” said Ghandour in a phone interview Thursday. “This is the beginning.”
Last week the California Coastal Commission granted approval to start grading the project site which officially begins the $800 million project’s construction for the first new coastal resort built in Northern California in decades and the first hotel in Sand City.
Title is held by Security National Guaranty Evariste LLC, a coupling of Ghandour’s SNG and the Evariste Group which was in contention for control of the project up until a few months ago.
“Litigation was settled and SNG Evariste is owned by SNG and Evariste Group. I cannot discuss details,” said Ghandour.
The developer said he has prevailed in all 12 lawsuits over the 25 years the Sand City project has been on the books and which was granted a coastal development permit by the Coastal Commission in 2015 after a lengthy process to obtain the approval.
“We’re extremely happy about this and look forward to putting the region on the map with the size and scope” of this project, said Todd Bodem, city administrator of Sand City. “It will be an iconic and environmentally sustainable resort.”
The project, which will take three to three-and-a-half years to complete, will be a mixed-use development of 184 hotel rooms, 92 hotel condominium units, 92 residential condominiums, full-service spa, two restaurants, and conference space.
The project site sits on what was once one of the largest sand mines in the United States and will be designed using the latest smart building technologies including alternative energy systems, a graywater system, daylighting, green roofs, and living walls that together reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent and cut utility costs.
Less than 25 percent of the 39.2 acre site will be developed with a significant portion being set aside as open space while incorporating programs to restore and protect the native habitat, species and sand dunes on the site including the snowy plover, Smith Blue Butterfly and the Spine Flower.
SNG Evariste LLC will also create the Monterey Bay Shores Environmental Trust to set aside a portion of the hotel’s revenue to fund local conservation programs to restore and enhance the site’s ecological community on an ongoing basis, and will be administered by Sand City and local environmental groups along with State Parks and Regional Parks District.
Bodem said the project will create 250 temporary jobs during buildout and provide 250 permanent jobs once the eco-resort is complete.
The city administrator added that the development will include public parking and access to the beach, currently not available, and benefit residents and visitors alike.
The Monterey Bay Shores Eco-resort has already contributed over $2.5 million to low-cost visitor accommodation and regional traffic mitigation through the Transportation Agency for Monterey County of which $1.7 million will be used to help fund the new RV park at the Fort Ord Dunes State Park.
Bodem said he expects the transient occupancy tax generated by the eco-resort will be in the millions annually.
James Herrera can be reached at 831-726-4344.
