Construction of the Brookdale Lodge is finally under way after the iconic landmark has sat vacant for nearly four years.
The Brookdale’s new proprietor, Pavin Patel, who owns three other hotels in Santa Cruz County, closed escrow on the property in July. He hopes to have the hotel up and running by the end of the year, with plans to reconstruct the entirety of the Lodge in three parts, including the cabins across the street and a portion of the hotel that caught fire.
“It’s like opening up a can of worms,” Patel said. “We are going to find some things that we basically didn’t look forward to finding, but it’s just one of those properties where you just don’t know what you’re going to find. So we are looking from anywhere from $2.5 to $3.5 million invested in the whole project.”
After completing the hotel and retail portions of the property, Patel plans to concentrate heavily on rebuilding the nightclub and the Brook Room, which contains a natural creek.
Santa Clara-based A-Team, headed up by contractor Tae Lee, is overseeing construction on the long-awaited project.
“I want to preserve the actual historic site of the building, and in order to do that, you cannot demo it,” Patel said. “And I want to make the main venue a time machine – going back in time for the people who know the importance of the history.”
The area that houses the hotel started out as a lumber mill in the 1870s, though much of the hotel itself dates back to the 1920s. The hotel housed gangsters and movie stars during its heyday, and the structure has been rumored to house ghosts as well.
Upon reopening, the hotel initially will have 60 rooms when it reopens, and 20 more may be added on in the future, he said. Upon completion, Patel expects the new lodge to employ 100 people – including independent contractors – which may jump closer to 200 once other facilities are complete such as the conference room.
“This is one of the most important things I think that’s going to be happening to San Lorenzo Valley for the past several years and for the future to come,” said Fifth District Supervisor Bruce McPherson.
McPherson hosted a meeting Monday night at the Boulder Creek Fire Department, where community members discussed plans for the Brookdale Lodge. The meeting had to be moved into the station’s garage to accommodate the large turnout.
“It’s wonderful,” said County Supervisor’s analyst Robin Musitelli of the large crowd. “People really care about the Brookdale Lodge.”
Patel explained the renovation that is to take place, adding that some cabins and hotel rooms will have to be completely rebuilt because of the building’s deteriorating condition. Once construction is complete, the lot will have a new look, and the indoor swimming pool will be transformed into an outdoor pool to be enjoyed with the scenic forested landscape.
“We have now been able to issue them a kind of great outline for the project,” Santa Cruz County Economic Development Coordinator Barbara Mason said.
That outline included advice about project phasing and getting the hotel up and running, so it can start generating income, she said.
“(Patel) has just written a huge check to the Bank of India, and so we need to start getting it renovated and performing again so we can do Phase Two and Phase Three over time,” Mason said.
Although some residents were concerned with how and when the construction might take place, many were enthusiastic as to what the future of the project holds. In the end, every question was answered, and community members embraced Patel’s vision to restore the iconic Brookdale Lodge.
“The bottom line is, we need the Brookdale Lodge back open and running.” Patel said.
