In a surprise move, Ukiah city officials are demanding that the Palace Hotel’s current owner, Jitu Ishwar, submit a signed contract with a qualified structural engineering firm by today to evaluate the historic landmark’s existing condition independently.
If Ishwar fails to comply with the city’s second formal order regarding the safety of the massive brick building, Matt Keizer, the city’s chief building code enforcement officer, is threatening to seek court-imposed fines and possible jail time.
“This is the only notice the city will give before taking enforcement action,” warned Keizer, the city’s chief building code enforcement officer.
It is the strongest action yet taken by city officials, who have waited months for Ishwar and a group that includes the Guidiville Rancheria and private investors to close a deal to buy the Palace, demolish the town’s most significant historical landmark, and prepare the site for a new hotel/retail complex.
The Guidiville group proposes a faux Palace Hotel in its place, complete with a restaurant, bar, event center, and boutique-style hotel accommodations and apartments. This plan is not new, largely mimicking what an early investor proposed. However, Ishwar rejected it due to financial reasons. The Guidiville group, on the other hand, promises to fully compensate Ishwar under their plan, which relies on securing public funds for private development.
Deputy City Manager Shannon Riley said the new enforcement threat is independent of a pending state grant application by the proposed buyers in escrow with Ishwar to buy the Palace and its prime downtown property.
“We issued the first order in November, and to date, we have not received any permit application or plan to remedy the public safety issues surrounding the Palace,” said Riley.
Riley said the city voluntarily put enforcement action on hold pending a state review of the proposed buyers’ plan to seek a $6.6 million grant to investigate possible contamination of the Palace property from old underground fuel storage tanks, clean up, and prepare the site for private development.
The state Department of Toxic Substance Control has allowed weeks to pass without any announced decision.
“Meanwhile, the public safety issues remain,” said Riley. The city notified Ishwar of its planned follow-up order on April 8.
Representatives of the state agency said Monday afternoon that no timetable has been set for a grant announcement. The stage agency in charge of oversight, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, has said any contamination investigation at the Palace site will not require demolition of the building, as the buyers propose.
Ishwar, his attorney Steve Johnson, the proposed Palace buyers led by the Guidiville Rancheria, and other investors, including downtown restaurant owner Matt Talbert, did not respond to written requests for comments on Monday on how the city action might affect their plans or the pending escrow.
Keizer, the city’s chief building code officer, told Ishwar in a formal written notice that he must initiate a contract with a qualified engineering firm with experience in unreinforced masonry buildings similar in size and type to the 133-year-old Palace Hotel.
Keizer’s notice referenced ZFA Structural Engineers, a firm that has thrice examined the Palace over the past 15 years and, as recently as 2022, found it still structurally sound despite serious decline under two ownerships, including Ishwar. In 2018, the firm submitted plans for a seismic retrofit of the building, which were approved at the time.
No matter what structural engineering firm conducts the demanded city study, Keizer said it must include an independent evaluation of the existing condition of the Palace Hotel structure and supported recommendations to stabilize, demolish, or “otherwise mitigate the hazard to the public caused by the current condition,” and a plan set and documentation of an engineer’s estimate of the cost of any recommendation, and a detailed scope of work necessary for reconstruction or demolition.
Keizer further set a May 14 deadline for Ishwar to submit documents and a permit application to deal with the three city demands, “showing clear path forward to mitigation.”
Keizer warned Ishwar that if he doesn’t take steps to abate the violations in time prescribed, “the city will take enforcement action, which may include all of the following:
- Issuance of a citation for violation of Cal. Health & Safety Code §17995 (which makes violation of the building code a misdemeanor punishable for a first offense by a fine of $1,000, six months in the county jail, or by both a fine and imprisonment with the fine increasing to $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation
- Filing a civil action to enjoin the violation as a public nuisance, recovering costs to demolish the building, taking other actions necessary to protect public health and safety, and imposing penalties prescribed to prevent a tax deduction for interest, expenses, depreciation, or amortization arising from Ishwar’s ownership.
Keizer said the city could also seek reinstatement of a court-appointed receivership, which was terminated when Ishwar bought the Palace and property for about $972,000 in 2019. If so, the receiver could take possession and control of the Palace, bill Ishwa for any repairs, and impose those costs as a lien on the property. Ishwar could also become liable for city attorney fees and related expenses.
So nice to know if you work for the county of Mendocino you have the power to DEMAND anything you desire no care for people’s real lives situation. No good deed goes unpunished. And you wonder why the government is so disgusting in a normal persons eyes?
The first sentence in this article: “City of Ukiah Officials”
Please may sure you are criticizing the right agency if you are going to partake in the comments.
This building has been in disarray & in limbo for decades. Its long overdue for refurbishment & repuropse or a demolition & start anew. Its been long enough!
Thank
Thank you, Mike Geniella, for this excellent reporting. How dare Ishwar Jitsu and local investors try to use public money for their personal gain! Ishwar’s neglected properties in Ukiah- The Palace and The Economy Inn- have been rotting before our eyes for years and it is time to enforce a clean-up using Ishwar’s money, not the tax-payers.
I agree. If he owns it, he needs to step up and do what needs to be done. A loan, or sell or just handle things by his means not the city. Nor county. His shit , his issues, no one else’s. If he cant or won’t then sell it to who will and can .
I’m ok with using public money. It may be the only tangible thing I see happen with public money in my life
I would like to see the City Of Ukiah take a clear position supporting the restoration of the Palace Hotel, along with some concrete steps in support of that position. Lacking that I can only conclude that the City Council wants it torn down and that the City is actively working to bring about that end for this historic structure. It surely looks like that is what they want.
If you should ask, “why does someone from Boonville want to have a say in this?” I would say that I have made Mendocino County my home since 1973 and that Ukiah, with all of its faults, is my County Seat. I shop in Ukiah, I am entertained there, I eat lunch and dinner there, I pay taxes there, I get my hair cut in Ukiah. Ukiah is not what I would like it to be, but it is what it is, and I would like it to be better. Hence my position on the Palace.
As I have said before: I think that preservation of older buildings is important because they give our society as a whole a sense that there is some shared history that we are a part of. On an individual level I think that we gain a sense of ourselves as a part of a whole when we can see and appreciate our history.
Ukiah – would you please step up to the plate here? Or throw a Hail Mary pass? Without the Palace Hotel Ukiah will be less.
Thank you Mr. McFadden, for your passion of trying to protect the fabric of, not only Ukiah, California history, but of Mendocino County history as well. I am part of a family that settled in Boonville, Yorkville, and Ukiah in the 1850’s. I have good memories of the Palace, and all the old buildings. The Palace also had a room that was Black Bart’s, which those of us from these parts, know the history. There have been past potential buyers that were ready to restore it. Let’s preserve what is left of all our historic buildings before they are torn down.
Hi Longtime; Thanks for your support. I remember the Black Bart Room – I had lunch there often when I was camping on my 20 Anderson Valley acres, bathing in the creek, and building my house. I also remember the restaurant that Kuleto had there in the 80’s.
Hi Tom, you’re welcome. You have my full support, as a native Ukiahan
who wants as much of the Palace restored as possible.
Well, maybe it is time for folks who live in Ukiah to speak up. Some would write my thoughts off because I don’t live in town.
Keep in mind there are people who actually live in Ukiah who have all the same rights and senses of entitlement as you do and then let’s not forget the city council responds to voters in Ukiah. The people who pay the property and sales taxes for Ukiah (not just the county) and likely work in Ukiah. The city of Ukiah is not the county and has the ability to take a different direction than the county directive. Right now Ukiah has an opportunity to alter the downtown area, likely for the better.
There will be a new courthouse in a few years with another ancient building long past its prime. The county technically owns the land of the courthouse but will likely sell it to a developer and eventually become part of the city. The county is in an unknown amount of debt. The courthouse property may be the saving grace to save this county’s finances.
This palace hotel will turn into something other than a vacant dilapidated building. It has been like this for 30 years so it has had plenty of time to be a historic preservation landmark hotel and here we are 30 years and on and still no landmark hotel. Let’s not kid ourselves and see that Ukiah and the environment has changed quite a bit sense 1897. There is no where for people who will likely work and/or play here to park and with newer building technology this can be designed to a modern society’s needs.
Modern Man: You must be one of the people standing on the platform waiting for the next train to Eureka. I think you will be waiting for a while. Meanwhile; your first paragraph here has five topics – care to enlighten us on any of them?
What does your second paragraph have to do with anything at issue here?
Third paragraph: I guess you are setting yourself up as the judge of “a modern society’s needs.” How, in fact, did you get nominated for that?
Just curious. Tom
Hi Tom,
If you are honestly curious, sure I’ll indulge. My first paragraph is to make note that the people who live and pay Ukiah taxes (which is usually higher) and elect the city council have first priority in how they want their city to develop.
The city is not the same as the county and just because it sits near the courthouse and county seat doesn’t make every county citizen entitled to have a say in how it develops. That’s why this city has their own PD, Fire, grant writers, city council, water & electric district, and planning division. The city citizens pay for that extra cost to have their own charter city.
The court house issue has many similarities to the empty hotel in the fact that it is an old outdated building and soon to be empty like the hotel itself. These historical societies like to protect buildings like this at the cost to everyone else. Not unlike this hotel issue. The county (your county too) is in financial trouble. I know the authors of this journal read comments and take notes of the public thought process. This is more a reminder to the public readers and writers to nip this upcoming courthouse issue in the butt before it becomes like the palace hotel 30 years and on.
I’m looking at the writing on the 🧱 wall. Car insurance rates (and property rates) have nearly doubled and the costs for cars keeps going up. Car loans used to be 3-5 years long and now it is common to see 7 and plus year car loans. Cars are a huge waste of money and resources but due to decades of poor planning, not unlike Ukiah, people have no choice but to buy a car. A depreciating asset and a space that must be maintained to store this contraption. Tom, you drive to Ukiah and use a parking lot to enjoy the privileges in Ukiah. Ideally, we would walk or ride our bikes to everything but that isn’t our world. I propose rebuilding the place hotel with our deficiencies in mind. We don’t have the public transit to replace cars but if we develop hybrid buildings with modern standards like our cars then we won’t need to use up a whole block for solely parking. Saving the palace hotel as it sits sets up a battle for parking in Ukiah where you will see parking structure proposals popping up left and right.
I’m gonna nip this in the “bud”. Not the butt.
You make a lot of assumptions and jump to many conclusions.
Property tax rates, whether in Mendo County or CofU, have NOT doubled.
The vast majority of sales taxes paid in CofU are paid by non-residents, as CofU services >100,000 people.
Maybe your driving habits are at issue. My auto insurance hasn’t doubled. Unless you’re talking over a 30+yr period…which is normal with target inflation.
We lowly county dwellers help you CofU citizens pay for your city incorporation and those tax bills by buying goods and services in CofU.
CofU does NOT have its own Fire Dept (for quite a while now) or Water Dist (recent) anymore.
And the Electric Utility is considering expanding widely.
CofU does NOT have its own Court or Jail.
I may not live there but my business operates there a lot and spends oodles more $ there than several median households of >4 people while also employing some of its citizens.
Parking structure proposals left and right for 1 hotel?
Absurd.
You need to check your arithmetic.
So, you can “try” to shut us up and attempt to demean & deride us all you like, but your energy is wasted and falls flat.
Why are you so threatened by people, who live outside CofU and are directly affected by this issue, speaking out?
You clearly mis- read or blanked out reading this… Please review the fundamentals of your statement because you mis read my comment…Please do your own research since there are a bunch of articles on the Internet talking about the arbitrary increases in auto and property insurance. I had my car insurance go up for no reason so it has nothing to do with my driving. No claims nada… It’s happening everywhere. Welcome to reality of the car dominant suburban sprawl….
You don’t understand how downtowns work. Where are all the guests and staff going to park now that this “landmark” hotel is operational??? You still haven’t actually made any suggestions yourself. During the day the parking lots in town are mostly full due to the staff and patrons in the surrounding businesses…
I have a business here in town too but it gives you or I no better a position to call the shots on how the hotel develops. 📈
Property insurance (not taxes…) silly goose. I said the insurance rates for property and automobiles are nearly doubling… In fact CA keeps losing property insurance companies due to high fire risk in this state. I’ve jungled multiple insurance companies for the Ukiah area due to high fire risk.
Chau
What in the world does your car or property insurance have to do with anything at issue here?
Tom: “I guess you are setting yourself up as the judge of “a modern society’s needs.” How, in fact, did you get nominated for that?”
I’m making the point that cars a “modern” compromise we have to deal with since we all depend on them at least for the foreseeable future. Cars are a wasteful feature of suburban sprawling and has made property insurance hard to find or really expensive especially in fire risky Mendo. Retrofitting a 100 year old building in earthquake prone CA seems expensive and not very economical. Property insurance looks at old buildings like this with aversion. The owner of such a structure may have to self insure.
“From a property insurance standpoint, historic buildings contain inherent and often unique values that require a higher degree of attention than modern buildings. At the 2010 American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) Main Event, Dave Mistick, president of Circumspex LLC, a Pittsburgh-based firm that helps organizations plan for and recover from disasters, addressed how the design and construction of historic buildings makes them more vulnerable to damage—especially by fire—and more expensive to repair after damage has occurred. And he provided a wide range of suggestions for managing the risks associated with historic structures.”
Tom’s wet dream:
Lets retrofit a 100 year old building regardless of whether the town / economy / logistics actually can support a “landmark” hotel.
Critique:
Where are staff and patrons going to park in this new landmark hotel? -Unlike in 1897, Ukiah no longer has trains moving people in and out of town. Now people all travel by car and need parking to access this area.
How much is it going to cost to insure a retrofitted historical structure? vs a modern building? – In a state (like CA) where property insurance companies are one foot out the door I can only imagine a historical building will cost much more than a modern building since historical building replacement costs are much higher.
Nothing about retrofitting this ancient structure will be economical. Any investor doing this has to be okay with spending money for the sake of spending money. Almost like a hobby more than a business.
The Palace in its sad state of deterioration. And yet, people with a lot of capital made offers, hired professionals to assess the Palace, and were ready to take on this huge challenge and get it done. The owner doesn’t want to sell to them. Why not?? All the owners over the years have been allowed to let this building, in the downtown core, slowly rot away. Why? The city and the owner are the ones who need to answer these questions.
It’s been 30 years…and still nothing has happened to this building. Every city council and owner of this building (over the last 30 years) is conspiring against the community? That’s a bit of stretch and I’m putting it lightly. I bet money has something to do with it but that’s just my guess.
So – Now I am accused by an anonymous writer, “Make Buildings Modern Again,” of having a “wet dream.” I did not imagine that anyone would go so low, but with anonymous writers I should have expected something like this. This kind of thing is really all they have to go with.
Sir, or madam, I am 80+ years old and there is no chance of a wet dream. I’ll let you know about my dream for Ukiah.
I do not think you will have a problem with parking – I have never had any such problem in Ukiah. Good luck with that train to Eureka…
Here’s what I wrote:
“PD, Fire, grant writers, city council, water & electric district, and planning division.”
Here’s your strawman argument fallacy: ” CofU does NOT have its own Fire Dept (for quite a while now) or Water Dist (recent) anymore.
And the Electric Utility is considering expanding widely.”
“CofU does NOT have its own Court or Jail.”
First off:
-The Jail was never mentioned in my prior statement… and courthouses are funded by the state not the county.
“That’s why the City of Ukiah, Millview County Water District, and Redwood Valley County Water District have agreed to consolidate their water” https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2024/03/10/another-voice-rowing-in-the-same-direction/
-Tom said Ukiah didn’t have his own district he must know more than the Ukiah Daily Journal…
Ukiah does in fact have a PD force, not a sheriff
Ukiah FD merged recently with Ukiah valley fire…making it one universal organization, which is predominantly funded by the city residences for better fire protection. (Not Cal fire)
https://cityofukiah.com/consolidated-fire-services-uvfa/
Stop using strawman fallacy arguments because this is how you lose a debate.
Last time I checked, the Ukiah Courthouse was not on the National Register of Historic Places. Although the older part of the courthouse is beautiful. The Palace Hotel is on the National Register. That’s what makes the Palace Hotel so significant. The architecture and the history.
National Register of Historic Places or not, there really isn’t a lot of architectural beauty to the Palace Hotel. The old Mendocino County Courthouse was an architectural standout, but that is long gone. Google a picture. Too bad it couldn’t have been saved.
Everyone has an opinion. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The Palace Hotel is one treasure that should and could be preserved!
“To be eligible for listing in the National Register, a resource must meet at least one of the following criteria: Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history” Really? This is an opinion piece. Anything could have historical significance depending on the person making the claim.
For all those people who are saying that it would be great idea to preserve and restore the Palace Hotel, I fully support you. Why don’t you all get together, form a development company, and remodel the hotel yourselves?
Oh wait, you want to just moan and complain and let our downtown continue to decline.
Just some fun facts… the people who had the palace nominated for the historical register are actually from Marin County. One of whom is currently a successful and respected restaurateur still. The project lead came from east coast money. Oh and they all owned the palace hotel together at the time and sued each other when they went bankrupt. https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5e734a624653d0172f1ab1ec
Thank you for the addition of info.
Well, I want to know about the Indian Tribe, the Guidiville people, and why in the world they are involved in this at all. What do they expect to get out of it? I know that they have long wanted a casino, and I think that they should have one, but why be involved in the fate of the Palace Hotel in Ukiah? Looks like a shady deal for sure. Would any Native American want to speak up here? Transparency is probably best…
I would also like to know more about the “SECRET” investors in what looks like some kind of shady scam. Would any of them, perchance, be on the Ukiah City Council? What are the “secret” investors so afraid of that they will not stand up and identify themselves? My rule of thumb is, “If it is secret it is suspect.” That goes for the National Government as well as the little people in Ukiah. Say your piece, people, and stop hiding. We can all say our truth, and hopefully we can agree to disagree.
As a NDN but not a member of our local tribe, it should be their right as original occupants and stewards of this land to do whatever the hell they want to gain their reparations. Definitely not the business of settlers to question who they stole from.
There is no argument for your well written thoughts.If the building does indeed come down rest assured that when the new construction begins and the dirt begins to fly the first historical evidence to see the light of the day will be the layers of trash and artifacts from the first white settlers beginning in the early 1850’s up until when the hotel was built.Below that there will be plenty of evidence of the original occupants and the stewards of the land that were pushed aside and relocated to be out of view for the most part.
My family were early settlers of Mendocino County. They did not steal any land from anyone, let alone Native Americans.
I suspect many of us would like to know who the real person is behind the comments. Why are people afraid to identify themselves in a public forum over an important community issue. Don’t hide. Stand up, identify yourselves, and say what you think. That’s real debate.
Mike, don’t you see the attacks people inflict on others in this forum?Snarky remarks, insults name calling..etc. Used to be letters to the editor in the Ukiah Daily Journal and we all used our names.
I think that people would be less likely to insult others, call them names or be snarky if they had the nerve to put their name on what they are saying. Maybe mendofever should require attribution.
Tom, didn’t you call me the “Modern man”?
I don’t see name calling or snarky remarks unless constructive criticism is now lumped in with snarky.
Identify yourself. Tom McFadden does. Why hide? You’re a frequent commenter. Let us know who your are.
Well – I do want to apologize if I have somehow offended you. How would you like to be addressed since you will not own your posts?
Exactly. Mike Geniella right on. People need to grow some balls. If you think you are so smart and crafty with your comments then show some pride. Use your real name. What are you afraid of? These anonymous comments are pathetic. Not just with this current Palace Hotel rant but all throughout the Mendofever platform. I don’t care much about the Palace Hotel. Eventually it will just collapse while City officials bicker for another couple decades about its fait. I know a guy. We can just throw a couple sticks of TNT in it and the problem will be solved. Just kidding. My biggest concern isn’t the Palace Hotel, it is the removal of Lake Pillsbury. Ukiah residents should be much more concerned about that. The Palace is a lost cause.