The remodel of the Atwater Arcade began Friday, Feb. 15.
“We are renovating and adding new shops to the Atwater Hotel,” said Randall Harrel, president and CEO of the Santa Catalina Island Company.
When the work is done, it won’t be the arcade anymore. Harrel said the former arcade would now be called the Shops at Atwater.
The Atwater is just one example of the construction going on all over Avalon during this so-called off-season when tourism is comparatively low.
The remodel of the Atwater Arcade began Friday, Feb. 15.
“We are renovating and adding new shops to the Atwater Hotel,” said Randall Harrel, president and CEO of the Santa Catalina Island Company.
When the work is done, it won’t be the arcade anymore. Harrel said the former arcade would now be called the Shops at Atwater.
The Atwater is just one example of the construction going on all over Avalon during this so-called off-season when tourism is comparatively low.
The city of Avalon approved 27 development projects in 2012, of which 11 were approved during the last four months of the year, according to a spreadsheet provided to the Catalina Islander by the City of Avalon Planning and Building Department.
“There has been a small increase in renovation type projects in recent months,” said Planning Director Amanda Cook.
“There is a huge amount of construction going on in Catalina from a lot of different people,” Harrel said.
Harrel said houses were being torn down and rebuilt.
He said at least two residential houses were under construction. He did not include the on-going renovation of the Holly Hill House, which has been undergoing major reconstruction for the past year.
Harrel said the Atwater Hotel, the Bluewater Grill and the planned 2014 construction of a new spa at El Encanto were three of the Island Company’s current projects.
“We have more, but they’re not approved yet,” Harrel said.
Avalon businessman Roy Rose is remodeling an 1,800-square foot space where an ice cream shop used to be that will be filled by a coffee shop. In the fall he will remodel a 2,200-square foot space that will become the home of a new Mexican restaurant operated by Steve Bray of Steve’s Steakhouse.
Bray recently expanded the steakhouse to include a new Roy Rose room.
Rose said he hoped the site of the new coffee shop would be open in May. He said Bray hopes to have the new Mexican restaurant open in March or April of 2014.
Rose said the 2014 schedule would allow the current tenant more time to make business decisions.
Harrel said one of the reasons for construction activity on the Island was that construction is typically done during the slowest months of the year.
Wayne Griffin, president of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce, said he hopes all the building will be done by the start of the tourist season so people won’t see the construction—just the results.
According to Griffin, the best time for construction is from January to February.
“It has to be done. You’re not going to not do it. You’re going to find the time it’s least objectionable,” he said.
“Some of it is going into May,” he said. Griffin said he hoped the construction activities would be done by then.
Like Griffin, Rose believes the construction work needs to be done. He said the floors in his buildings are 90 years old. According to Rose, most of the buildings in Avalon are old. Rose’s plans for his remodeling projects include stripping walls, replacing floors and updating underground utilities.
He said it was prudent to bring the buildings up to code.
“We can keep our charm and all that, but we need to make things new,” Rose said.
“I have five major tenants in my building and three of them have been brought up to excellent standards,” Rose said.
He said that in his opinion, not enough attention has been paid to Avalon’s infrastructure.
Another reason for the construction activity is that the local economy appears to be improving.
How much is hard to quantify.
“We fluctuate depending on the weather and the economy,” said Avalon Finance Director Betty Jo Garcia. “It has steadily been getting better but it is hard to determine.
“Revenues are up slightly in some periods and down some in other periods. But we are not in a bad position at all,” she said.
Even so, the consensus seems to be that things are better.
“There’s no question the economy is improving,” Griffin said. He said visitor counts have improved over the last two years, which improves the Avalon economy and that could lead to more construction.
Rose said he had been ready to renovate his properties before 2008, but seeing how scary the economy became during that time made him take a wait-and-see attitude.
Rose said that now, with the Avalon economy holding its own or growing slightly, he is ready to do things.
Harrel said a significant increase in cross-channel visits to the Island had helped. Harrel, like Griffin, said the Island economy is growing.
“There are more things to do on Catalina,” Harrel said.
He said visitors are wanting to eat in higher-quality venues.
Harrel also said that as the Island Company started to invest in its properties, other business owners started doing the same thing with their properties.
Rose agreed. “I’m not strictly a follower by any means,” he said.
He said that seeing the Island Company’s leadership risk capital on improvements inspired him.
He said he took encouragement from others who had more at stake than he does.
