After being denied by the airport authority earlier this year, San Diego's Consortium Holdings hospitality group is nearly cleared to build a new hotel, wellness center, office, and another pair of restaurants in Little Italy.
Under his newly formed Inside Voice LLC, Consortium Holdings founder Arsalun Tafazoli acquired six properties earlier this year on on Kettner Boulevard, Juniper and India Streets at the northern end of Little Italy at a cost of $13 million. This past February, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority denied Tafazoli's plans to build a boutique hotel, two restaurants, offices and a wellness center on the property, due to the project posing too great a risk for guests should there be a plane crash being it falls directly under the airport's flight arrival path.
On Tuesday, the San Diego City Council overrode the airport's decision, although a second vote expected to take this fall is required before officially signing off on the ambitious development. This is not the first time Consortium Holdings sought to overturn flight path restrictions. In 2016, CH had to challenge the airport's land use rules in order to renovate the former Nelson Photo building on India Street in Little Italy and transform it into what is now Born & Raised steakhouse.
Named Dreamboat, Consortium Holdings planned Little Italy project would be the company's first ground-up build out hotel. The property would include a 60-room hotel, 6,700 square-foot wellness center, a rooftop garden lounge, two restaurants totaling 6,800 square feet, and underground parking, all on a 0.57-acre site. The property would also house offices and serve as the company's headquarters.
Tafazoli is currently operating three San Diego hotels. In March 2021, he finalized the purchase of North Park's 75-year-old The Lafayette Hotel, Swim Club & Bungalows for $25,815,000 then performed a $31 million renovation. Later in 2021, Tafazoli purchased Little Italy's 67-room, European-style La Pensione Hotel for nearly $18 million. In 2022, he entered into a longterm lease for Coronado's 29-guestroom La Avenida Inn for an undisclosed price and is currently in the process of transforming it to become The Baby Grand Hotel.
In addition to the Dreamboat project, Consortium Holding is also working on several other properties. The company recently unveiled Lou Lou’s Jungle Room, a live music venue and supper club in the basement area of The Lafayette Hotel. They are also adding a spa concept inspired by Russian, Roman and Turkish bathhouses to the hotel, as well as a fine-dining restaurant named Le Horse Continental Room. The company is currently in the process of restyling the 14-year-old Starlite restaurant on northern India Street and will open Leila Middle Eastern restaurant in North Park on July 31. CH founder Arsalun Tafazoli also owns the shopping plaza at 3401 Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, which sits across the street from Blind Lady AleHouse and approximately a half mile from CH's Polite Provisions.
Consortium Holdings hopes to break ground at 2345 Kettner Boulevard starting in 2025. For more information, visit consortiumholdings.com.
