Much-awaited landside construction to start in Dana Point Harbor

The grading permits are issued and construction equipment is ready to roll on a three-level parking structure marking the first phase of the much anticipated landside renovation of the Dana Point Harbor.

Dana Point Harbor Partners won a 66-year lease in 2018 from the OC Board of Supervisors to renovate the 53-year-old county harbor, including the 120,000-square-foot area of the harbor that will house shops, restaurants, public gathering spaces and an expansive boardwalk connecting Doheny State Beach to Baby Beach.

“This is a milestone,” Bryon Ward, president of Burnham Ward Properties and the development partner heading up the commercial core overhaul, said of Wednesday’s ceremonial groundbreaking at the site where the parking structure will go. The event included community, county and city leaders and harbor merchants, and the development partners presented the timeline guiding the harbor project forward, which is projected to take five to six more years.

Work on the new  2,265-slip marina is already underway, with 772 completed. There will also be additional guest boat slips, which aren’t included in the count. Joe Ueberroth, of Bellwether Financial Group, is handling those renovations.

Bob Olson, of R.D. Olson, rounds out the development partnership and is working on entitlements through the California Coastal Commission for two new hotels.

“We spent 2020 and 2021 redesigning and permitting everything,” Ward said of the commercial core element, adding that they were postured to start earlier but, because of the market’s volatility and inflation, had to figure out new financing for the project, now projected at $600 million.

They also had to negotiate new utility permits with the South Coast Water District, he said. “Everything needed to be upgraded.”

The parking structure will be built on the left side of Golden Lantern at the entrance of Dana Point Harbor. It will be three levels, but won’t obscure a view of the new buildings or the water, the developer said.

The structure will also have boater services, including restrooms, showers, changing rooms, e-charging stations and dedicated parking for people going sportfishing and whale watching and those transiting on the Catalina Express. There will be 984 stalls, including 98 dedicated boater spaces.

“It’s not going to look like a big concrete structure,” Ward said, adding that there will be valet services and a gangway where boaters can wheel their gear down to the dock and launch pads. Mature trees will be planted to line the extension of Golden Lantern.

The construction of the structure, landscaping, and hardscapes, including the new harbor boardwalk that will be doubled in width and surrounded by a greenbelt, should be done in a year to 14 months, which completes the first two phases of the project plans, Ward said. From there, Ward said he will begin work on the new buildings near the waterfront as Phase 3 and then turn his attention to Dana Wharf.

Ward said $50 million has already been invested in the project for entitlements, design work, consultants, and geotechnical soil issues.

But with inflation and rising construction costs, the partners have had to find new financing for the renovations. Each phase will be financed independently, Ward said. As one is finished, the next will be financed. Financing for the parking structure and the accompanying amenities are secured, he said.

“We’re trying to upgrade everything without losing the charm Dana Point is,” he said. “A lot is visible and some is not. When you live with a project for five years, you get a better feel for the conditions.”

As the parking structure work gets underway, those with businesses in the harbor and people visiting won’t see a lot of negative impacts, Ward said. All the work will be confined behind the site’s fence for the first six months. When that work is completed, access will be flip-flopped so as not to impede traffic or pedestrians, he said.

All harbor businesses will remain open.

Work on the seven waterfront buildings will begin as the first phases wind down, Ward said. As that gets underway, he said more discussions will be held with existing tenants to “determine their desire to remain in the project,” he said.

“I’m optimistic we’ll have 100% of the project committed before we finish the waterfront,” he said, adding that he expects a mix of tenants and a culturally diverse mix of food offerings from independent and regional operators.

“It won’t all be seafood,” he said.

Among some of those tenants is Jim Miller, who operates the popular Coffee Importers and the Scoop Deck. While he said he would remain in his present buildings until he can’t, he is working on an option for a space at the Ocean Institute, where the former gift shop existed. If that plan works out, he said he will add a patio and a bakery – it’s been a goal to include his daughter, an executive pastry chef, in the business.

The location there would allow him to coordinate events with the Ocean Institute while still drawing his regular customers. And, he said he’s still open to also having a presence in the commercial core.

“It takes pressure off (Ward) if he doesn’t have a place for me right away, and it keeps my employees working that I’ve had for 15 years,” Miller said.

But on Wednesday, Miller was most enthusiastic about the parking structure. He also provided coffee and food for the event.

“I’ve been waiting for that since 1998,” he said, adding that he spent three decades talking with harbor’s first business owner, Don Hansen, the founder of Dana Wharf Sportfishing and Whale Watching, about how the merchants could get one built. Hansen was active in pushing for the structure up until his death in 2022.

Hansen pushed the topic with then-Supervisor Tom Wilson and the first steps in a harbor revitalization were born.

“I’m sad Don isn’t here to see it; we spent 30 years talking about it,” Miller said.

Still, Donna Kalez, Hansen’s daughter, who now runs the family business, was excited to see her father’s dream materialize. The whale-watching and fishing charter business is located on the wharf, which will be the last section to be built and will include five new buildings.

“We’ve been telling everyone it’s coming,” she said. “For me, it’s bittersweet because my dad isn’t here to see it, but he’ll be watching from above. I’ve ben waiting for this moment forever.”