Historic Breakers Building in DTLB to Become Independent Long Beach Hotel

Photo courtesy of Pacific6.

The historic building that is the Breakers in DTLB—home to the Sky Room and Cielo at the very top—will soon become an independent hotel under the direction of a private group led by John Molina, former COO of Molina Healthcare.

The group, dubbed Pacific6, is comprised of six founders that includes Molina and a group of those with a “diverse entrepreneurial backgrounds, including healthcare, financial services, risk management, human resources, legal affairs, and media/marketing development,” according to a press release from the development group.

Outside of Molina, they include Kevin Davis, former COO of Old Republic International; marketing guru David Telling; former Senior VP of Molina Healthcare Robert Gordon; attorney Todd Lemmis; and former Associate Vice President for Enterprise Programs, Learning and Development at Molina Healthcare John Heiman.

The move comes after a long controversy over the building’s future purpose after it stopped being a senior citizen living space after allegations of abuse flared in 2015. It was, at one point, supposed to be a sober living complex but that plan eventually failed—which brings Molina’s proposal into warmer territories as it involves a complete renovation of the building through the group’s $100M acquisition, $40M to $60M of which will go directly into renovation costs, according to Molina.

The possibilities are strong with an adaptive reuse project of this scale: from the ground floor spaces like the former Wine Down Lounge to massive event spaces—there once was a club during the 1980s and 90s on the south-facing side—Pacific6 has a lot of work ahead of them but also huge potential to shift the building’s presence.

“We are looking forward to working with the City of Long Beach, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, labor partners, and most importantly, the Long Beach community as the rich history of the Breakers is reimagined and revitalized. We hope every resident of and visitor to Long Beach will be proud of this project,” said Pacific6 Founding Partner John Molina.

The hotel was originally built in 1926 as a private resort before becoming the eighth hotel in Conrad Hilton’s eventual hotel empire in 1938. Since 1947, it has been privately operated.

While the Sky Room and Cielo will remain open under separate management, the precise timeline for the project has yet to be determined.