R.D. Olson Wins Coastal Commission OK for Dana Point Hotels

R.D. Olson Development has received a nod from the California Coastal Commission to build two hotels in Dana Point Harbor, now undergoing a $600 million renovation.

The Newport Beach-based developer led by Bob Olson can now move forward with plans to build the Dana House and the Surf Lodge on 9.5 acres at 24800 Dana Point Harbor Drive, DPTimes and the Orange County Register reported.

They would replace the 136-room Dana Point Marina Inn, built after the harbor was founded in 1971.

The 130-room Dana House would be a boutique hotel “with a Nantucket flair,” according to its developer. The more affordable Surf Lodge, with an unspecified number of rooms, would cater to mariners and a younger crowd. Their estimated cost was $150 million.

Both hotels will feature a rooftop lounge, pool and fitness center, Olson said.

The three-story Dana House will include four townhouse-style, two-story units for families or larger groups. Olson said he expects room rates from $300 to $500 a night.

The Surf Lodge, centered around surf culture, will be a “more affordable, more approachable” waterfront hotel, Olson said. Expected rates for the hotel were not disclosed.

“The Surf Lodge will be more tilted towards a younger crowd, a fun, hipper kind of experience, but welcoming,” Olson told the DPTimes. “Sometimes, hip hotels can be exclusionary; this won’t be that at all — a very inclusionary hotel that people feel welcome and wanted.”

R.D. Olson is among three developers that make up the Dana Point Harbor Partners, which won a 66-year lease in 2018 from the OC Board of Supervisors to renovate the harbor. The overhaul includes a 120,000-square-foot “commercial core” with waterfront shops, restaurants and a boardwalk connecting Doheny State Beach and Baby Beach.

Another partner, Joe Ueberroth of Bellwether Financial Group, has already built a third of a new 2,265-slip marina.

With California Coastal Commission approval behind them, Dana Point Harbor Partners will now seek final approvals with the City of Dana Point, Olson said. A ground-breaking for the hotels may come within the next 12 months.

Construction on the harbor parking structure is already underway, slated to finish early next year.

R.D. Olson Development, founded by Bob Olson in 1997, has built more than $1 billion in hotels since 2000 in California, Hawaii and Arizona, according to its website, including Lido House in Newport Beach.

— Dana Bartholomew