Building a better Balboa Bay Club

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- The clubhouse was the first to go.

Now, construction workers are about to begin tearing down several

buildings at the Balboa Bay Club’s southern end to make way for an

underground parking structure with enough room for 250 cars.

It’s all part of a $55-million renovation project the club unveiled in

November.

Construction of a new clubhouse in the center of the 52-year-old

complex is already underway and set for completion in August or

September, said B.W. Cook, a club spokesman.

“The foundations are in, and the first floor is up,” Cook said, adding

that the new clubhouse will eventually include 28 guest rooms, spas and

fitness facilities, as well as a restaurant for members.

The buildings that are about to disappear include meeting rooms,

offices and support facilities, Cook said. People who worked in the

buildings have moved to other locations in the club.

When the garage is built, it will be covered with gardens, said Cook,

who is also a Daily Pilot columnist. The parking garage will be open to

anyone visiting the club and help to alleviate existing parking problems.

After the new clubhouse is built, construction of a 131-room luxury

hotel will begin. The hotel will replace the two buildings that make up

the existing hotel.

Just like the new clubhouse, the new hotel will be built in Italian

Renaissance architectural style and is expected to open in January 2003.

“The [new] hotel is a perfect size,” said Henry Schielein, the club’s

president and chief operating officer. “It is small enough to provide

guests with an intimate, luxury experience while large enough to

accommodate groups with its generous meeting space, open courtyard and

proximity to a world of dining, shopping and recreation in Newport

Beach.”

Schielein, who raised Laguna Niguel’s Ritz-Carlton hotel to five-star

status when he worked there as general manager from 1986 to 1993,

challenged club employees in November to turn the Balboa Bay Club into

the next five-star hotel in Southern California.

The club’s restaurant, pool and hotel will remain open during

construction, Cook said, adding that club events have been moved to the

main building. But no hotel services will be available when construction

on the new hotel begins in the fall.