A lot of effort is being put into a local campaign to show how decrepit the Palace Hotel, a downtown Ukiah landmark, has become.
The historic structure’s current condition is thanks to two owners – one from Marin County and the other a Ukiah motel operator – who over the past three decades have done little to protect the town’s most significant historic building. The City of Ukiah has done a lot of handwringing and taken occasional public action over the decades, but it has aided the Palace’s sharp decline by a largely hands-off policy.
Demolition proponents now want to use $6.6 million in taxpayer dollars to tear down the Palace under the guise of a contaminated soil clean-up effort.
The advocates are the Guidiville Rancheria and a mystery group of local investors, whose public spokesman is Left Coast restauranteur Matt Talbert. After the taxpayer-funded demolition and cleanup, then the Guidiville/investment group wants to do their privately owned project, purportedly a faux Palace in its place.
Despite the clamor, and the ghastly photos of how the interior of the Palace looks now, noted historic preservation architect Carolyn Kiernat of Page & Turnbull in San Francisco believes the Palace can be shored up, gutted, and recycled into a downtown centerpiece.
The firm in 2022 assisted Ukiah financier Minal Shankar in preparing possibilities, but the deal was scuttled by current owner Jitu Ishwar, who apparently didn’t get the dollars he demanded. Ishwar is the owner of another downtown eyesore within a block of City Hall – the Economy Inn.
Kiernat and Page & Turnbull have done fine restoration projects all over California, including the Ferry Building in SF. Kiernat provides this example of the recent transformation of the old Hotel Tioga in Merced, a building not unlike the Palace.
Kiernat said the Palace can be recycled into a new centerpiece for Ukiah.
“It’s possible. It’s been done elsewhere, and I know it can be done in Ukiah,” said Kiernat.
Regional contractor Tom Carter agrees. Carter did the restoration of the acclaimed Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake, among other projects in the region including Sonoma County.
Carter two years ago combed the Palace and attempted to buy the building from the current owner Jitu Ishwar.
“The Palace Hotel can be restored” he wrote in published response Sunday to a series of photographs depicting the sad state today of the Palace’s interior.
“I had permission two years ago to examine the hotel for several weeks. I’ve done similar restoration work. I have the plans that were commissioned to begin the restoration. No one has said it would be easy but, it’s not as difficult as most people think,” wrote Carter.
Carter said there are many questions to be resolved.
“That’s why it needs great cooperation between the owners, the City and most of all the Community,” he said.
Carter offered this advice:
“To the owners, stop looking at it and wondering how much money can be made and start looking at what you can put back into your community. After all, it’s the community that keeps your other businesses alive. To the community, project some optimism, get on board because time is running out.”
If the City goes ahead with forcibly ordering the demolition or repair of the structure, that’s fine. But the precedent it sets is that all other derelict buildings will too be similarly condemned by the City. That could get very expensive, very quickly. The ability of actually recovering those costs is also very expensive and takes years of litigation. And there is no guarantee that it will actually happen, as whatever “paper” company holds title can simply fold up.
An alternative is for the public to organize and boycott anything affiliated with these profiteers and any other slumlords. Shunning can be a powerful motivation to not screw over your local community. I’d venture to say that these financiers don’t see you and I as part of their community, and don’t give a hoot about anything other than their pocketbook.
Mr. Geniella, Please add the liens and alternative costs this building has accumulated over the years of being essentially abandoned.
“The hotel may be worth less than the cost of tearing it down. City officials have said Laines told them she’d entertain nothing less than $1 million. The property was appraised at $309,000 in 2006 but a study commissioned by the city in 2001 determined it would cost $4.5 million just to tear it down.” – Glenda Anderson, Circa 2011, “The Press Democrat”
The local Assessor’s office doesn’t bother to assess the improvement anymore. Now to demolish this building will cost more than it did in 2001. $4.5m is now $6.6m to remove the blighted building…
Mark Adams, the former court appointed receiver for the Palace Hotel, provided court records showing the January 2019 sale to Ishwar was for $972,085. The amount included loans to the receivership from Ishwar and unpaid receivership fees and expenses. Ishwar within two weeks transferred title to Twin Investments, a limited liability company formed by him and his wife, Paru.
This community may not have a choice if they have any interest in doing something to this lot. They squandered 30 years away to get to this point. This eerily looks similar to the new jail fiasco with measure B funds. This community struggles with how it handles finances.
Mr. Ishtar bought the Palace as the only bidder at a public auction. If philanthropists or contractors wanted to bid they had the opportunity. They didn’t show up. Mr Ishtar did and has the right to choose his business partners. If Mr. Geniella thinks the owner should donate his resources and not care about making money maybe he should create a non profit of philanthropists who want to give back to the community by rebuilding the Palace.
The Palace’s pending sale is contingent upon buyers receiving
$6.6 million in taxpayer money to demolish the Palace under the guise of a study for possible ground contamination and clean-up. The core issue is whether the public should pay for the demolition of a structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places so private developers can proceed with their undisclosed plans, or the property owner who has not invested any money in protecting the building from further decline since 2019.
I would think the federal funding source is governed by legislation that determines what is a legal fundable environmental project. You have identified an issue that the funding agency is likely aware of. As a subscriber of Mendovoice I would look forward to a news piece by a respected, intelligent and skilled journalist such as yourself to report the facts on this issue. If you disagree with funding private projects environmental problems, that is a political issue to take up on the oped page.
The funding source is the state of California’s Department of Toxic Substance Control. The $6.6 million grant is sought from a special program for non-profits, tribes, and municipalities in poor areas. The grant money is not available to private investors in general. Whether there is actual contamination at the Palace Hotel site is in dispute. A 2017 study found no evidence. Guidiville Rancheria and its investors claim a 2023 study did but they have not publicly provided a copy to support their contentions. A state spokesman has said the agency also has not received a copy of that reported study, which is the basis for the grant application. You can read more about the program here:
https://dtsc.ca.gov/ecrg/
Thanks for the information. You are a thorough journalist.
I’m writing to project some optimism about restoring or completely replacing the Palace. I think one or the other is possible. Resolving the question of fuel tank contamination is fundamental to moving forward. I would hope that any contamination could be cleaned up without razing the building but that remains to be seen. I am happy local investor and spokesperson for the other investors and Guidiville Rancheria are interested in moving the Palace forward. This is a tough nut to crack and will take investment and risk. Hats off for taking this on. I am all in favor of the government paying to clean up any contamination.
Not too late for the City of Ukiah to impose eminent domain at a bargain price given its owner’s decades of neglect, take over the future of its downtown, and bring back the Palace Hotel to a first class landmark hotel. Redevelopment. Sue the current owners for creation and perpetuation of a public nuisance. Impose daily fines. Criminal charges, Eyster? (Same with Economy Inn.) Envision the current courthouse being redeveloped into a first class convention/conference center and park just steps away from a first class hotel and historic landmark. Downtown businesses will thrive. Ukiah will be a go to place instead of just haiku spelled backwards.
While I agree that something should be done with the property, a “first class landmark hotel” is a silly pipe dream. Why would Ukiah have one? What is the draw? Talk to the inns and hotels in the area to see if they are turning away that much business to warrant a large landmark hotel here. It’s time to leave nostalgia in the past and to do something efficient and useful with this property. The current owners have an obligation to DO SOMETHING. You can’t just let your building crumble away and be an eyesore and a danger.
I can already hear the money counting machines whirling and the vacuum sealers laboring as the constant and overwhelming stench of the herb wafts all over downtown.
Perhaps housing mixed with Businesses. People that live in downtown will likely shop in downtown.
Guidiville tribe was involved in a failed attempt to build a big casino hotel in Richmond over a decade ago, so a smaller version may be the plan for the Palace Hotel site: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34138848 & https://richmondconfidential.org/2009/11/13/point-molate-its-a-long-way-to-tipperary Guidiville tribal leaders are also on the board of this “Stealth Armament” company, which lists the fast track development advantages of working with the tribal business: http://www.stealtharmed.com/advantages-of-contracting-with-a-tribal-8a-firm. I hope whatever the plan is for the Palace there’s a lot of transparency and community feedback involved, as a revitalized version of the Palace (either restored or entirely rebuilt) could do amazing things for downtown, but only if most of the community is fully onboard.
This looks like downtown restauranteurs and owner trying to wag the dog for big pay day. The city should force building owner to mitigate within a given deadline or penalties imposed including up to loss of property — in that same action the deal should be made with the only viable candidate Shankar to acquire the building. It’s shameful that a restaurant owner (Left Coast) would destroy someone’s dream and vision to make the building into something for his own greedy agenda.