A new Pacific Grove hotel, years in the making, finally breaks ground.

A new luxury boutique hotel in downtown Pacific Grove—over a decade in the making—finally broke ground on Sept. 29, the start of an approximately two-year construction process. The Kimpton Pacific Grove Hotel project is located behind the Holman Building and across the street from the P.G. Public Library on Central Avenue.

Executives from hotel operator Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, property owners and developers from Cypress 16 LLC, and others, including P.G. Mayor Pro Tempore Nick Smith, grabbed golden shovels and ceremoniously dug into a pile of dirt sitting on top of a parking lot where the hotel will stand. Afterward, Champagne was popped open to celebrate.

Once complete, the hotel will feature 101 guest rooms, including six suites and a "hospitality parlor" with its own private outdoor terrace. Rooms on the third and fourth floors will have views of Monterey Bay. A press release promises the Kimpton Hotel will "exude elevated, laid-back vibes one can only find on the Central Coast."

The restaurant and bar will focus on local cuisine, fresh seafood and locally grown produce, in a concept that's being developed by a P.G. native, Scott Gingerich, Kimpton's senior vice president for restaurants and bars.

In addition, there will be a 3,650-square-foot courtyard and fireplace, a restaurant and bar. The hotel will be Kimpton's 10th hotel in California, with 75 hotels around the world and 50 projects in the pipeline.

The P.G. hotel is also expected to bring approximately 100 jobs.

It's been a very long road in building a hotel at the site. The entire block, from the Holman Building along Lighthouse Avenue, down to Central Avenue, was at one time owned by developer Nader Agha, who proposed redeveloping Holman into condos and building a hotel behind it.

In 2017, Agha was proposing a 63,775-square-foot, 125-room hotel—down from the 275 rooms he initially proposed—called Hotel Durell.

A group of residents strongly opposed to the hotel argued in 2017 that it would negatively impact the character of downtown—one former councilmember complained the proposed faux-Victorian design at the time was "hideous"—as well as bringing too much traffic and create parking problems. 

The objections by residents forced the city to require a full environmental impact report to study potential impacts, which added another year to the process. Agha bowed to community objections and reduced the number of rooms, which helped him finally achieve approval from the P.G. Planning Commission.

The proposal then went to the P.G. City Council in August 2018. In the time between meetings, hotel architects threw out the Victorian design residents objected to and gave the hotel a Spanish colonial look that mirrored the neighboring library and P.G. Museum of Natural History. In addition, more rooms were shaved off.

The council approved the project 5-1, with then councilmember Bill Peake (now mayor) voting no and Smith recusing himself.

In 2020, Agha sold the hotel site and its entitlements to a group of investors, and it was announced that Kimpton would operate the hotel once it was constructed. 

The project came back to the City Council in March 2022, with a request by the developers to allow for 3 more feet of height, in order to transform the plans from a budget hotel to a luxury inn. Several residents objected, including a second-story condo resident of the Holman Building.

The council voted 7-0 in favor of the height change, along with removing parking from across Fountain Avenue to placing it under the hotel using vehicle lifts, and requiring employees to park offsite. Ahead of the meeting the developers removed plans for a rooftop organic chef's garden and yoga classes, after meeting with residents who objected to any activities on the roof.