San Pedro’s Sunrise Hotel, on Harbor Boulevard, will be transitioned into emergency use under a plan being put together by Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino.

Business was falling fast at the 103-room budget hotel, 525 S. Harbor Blvd., due to the novel coronavirus spread and mandated quarantines.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday evening, March 23, in his regular briefing that the city is working with the county to identify 600 hotel and motel rooms — now emptied out because the crisis has hit the travel industry especially hard — that can be used in a transitional way temporarily.

“While the U.S. Navy hospital ship Mercy will add 1,000 uncompromised beds to our healthcare infrastructure in Los Angeles, which is the equivalent of two major hospitals, it will not be enough for the demand that we are anticipating,” Buscaino said in a statement. “This is why I have negotiated the take-over of the Sunrise Hotel in San Pedro as an additional healthcare asset.”

The 103-room Sunrise Hotel which city of LA plans to convert to either a quarantine space, health/hospital use or emergency housing for those with Section 8 vouchers. The hotel was about to close due to lack of business amid the coronavirus spread so this will guarantee the 10-person staff can stay on and be employed. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)

The 103-room Sunrise Hotel which city of LA plans to convert to either a quarantine space, health/hospital use or emergency housing for those with Section 8 vouchers. The hotel was about to close due to lack of business amid the coronavirus spread so this will guarantee the 10-person staff can stay on and be employed. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)

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The 103-room Sunrise Hotel which city of LA plans to convert to either a quarantine space, health/hospital use or emergency housing for those with Section 8 vouchers. The hotel was about to close due to lack of business amid the coronavirus spread so this will guarantee the 10-person staff can stay on and be employed. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)

The 103-room Sunrise Hotel which city of LA plans to convert to either a quarantine space, health/hospital use or emergency housing for those with Section 8 vouchers. The hotel was about to close due to lack of business amid the coronavirus spread so this will guarantee the 10-person staff can stay on and be employed. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)



The hotel was built in 1979. The current owner, Gina Kim, said her father purchased it around 1980 and the family has owned it ever since.

It has been eyed more recently by developers who now are constructing mixed-use projects throughout the area. But Kim said her family intends to retain ownership. The hotel’s main clientele comes from the visiting cruise ships, she said. But that business, for now, has gone bottom up with the major cruise lines now closed until the pandemic passes.

The councilman’s plan, she said, was one they supported as a way to help in the coronavirus effort. It also will keep their staff employed, she said, referring to the plans being negotiated.

“I told him we are on board,” she said.

There are several options being explored for what the hotel could become, said Branimir Kvartuc, communications director for Buscaino’s office. That includes using the building as a quarantine facility; for medical and health care services; or as emergency housing for those on the streets, who have Section 8 vouchers but can find no open apartments.

An additional benefit, Kvartuc said, is that the existing 10-person hotel staff will not lose their jobs in the transition.

The council office is looking to make the move as soon as it can and is putting together the funding now. That’s been complicated somewhat by canceled City Council meetings this week, Kvartuc said.

The idea is viewed as a way to make use of other under-used hotel and motel space during this period, he said. And it could help relieve the burden of other facilities as cases and possible cases of the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, increase.

Public health officials on Monday upped the total number of confirmed cases in Los Angeles County to 536, with seven deaths.

COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2. Symptoms associated with the respiratory disease, which appear two-to-14 days after exposure, include fever, a cough and shortness of breath. While most people — including healthy young adults — will experience mild symptoms, the disease can be severe and possibly fatal for at-risk groups, such as the elderly and those with other health problems.

“Our hospitals are going to become completely overwhelmed and we must plan additional resources now,” Buscaino, whose district includes San Pedro, said in his statement. “Using existing hotels throughout our county will help to add healthcare and emergency housing resources, while supporting hotel businesses.”