The Hotel Ritz (Now Avalon Senior Housing)
The Avalon Senior Housing complex, built in 1999, sits on what was once the modern Hotel Ritz that stood for nearly 70 years.
The three-story brick hotel that opened in 1929 at 3872 San Pablo Avenue was designed by notable architect Clay Burrell. Burrell also designed the nearby California Hotel among many other structures in Oakland.
“Ritz” was an informal way of implying luxury during this era, and the hotel was unaffiliated with the Swiss-founded Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel brand.
It was constructed at cost of $79,000 by Emeryville contractors Jacobs and Pattiani. Richard Flaherly was the first owner of the hotel with R.G. Rudolph appointed its manager.
The location was ideal for travelers, just steps from the Santa Fe Railroad Depot that offered a transcontinental connection, as well the San Pablo Avenue stop of the Key System line that transported passengers to and from San Francisco.
Its Grand Opening took place on June 25, 1929 with ads proclaiming the hotel to be “Emeryville’s Finest Hostelry.” “Hostelry” was a common term of the era for traveler-oriented lodging.
The two upper stories contained 68 rooms that accommodated overnight guests as well as 30 permanent residents.
The ground floor was used for commercial space with initial tenants including the E.J, Carey Insurance Co. and the Tobinken Pharmacy. There was also a banquet hall on the first floor that was connected to a restaurant.
In 1933, a licensed card club called the Yosemite Club opened in the space on the corner of Adeline and Yerba Buena Ave at 3921 Adeline.
Other ground floor businesses at this time included a Smoke Shop and a restaurant called the Sandwich Shop.
By 1946, The Avalon Club, later the Avalon Social Club, replaced the Yosemite Club. It was operated by Carl Ahlin and John Conger. The Avalon Club had a bar, high stakes gambling, and was the first card club in Emeryville to admit women.
In 1946, the restaurant space was occupied by the Grand Central Cocktail Lounge which lasted for about a decade. This business later became the La Rue Restaurant and Bar, which operated at this location for several decades. Notorious gambling czar Elmer “Bones” Remmer attempted to open a card club at the La Rue Restaurant but was thwarted by the city officials because of his known connections to the mob.
Things trended downward for the hotel in the 1960s and 70s. By the 1980s, the original clientele (rail travelers, motorists, industrial visitors) had largely disappeared. Emeryville’s heavy industrial base was shrinking, and redevelopment had not yet arrived.
The hotel had not been upgraded since being built and the shared bathrooms and lack of modern fire safety equipment made the hotel obsolete by modern standards. At this time, the hotel was mostly occupied by limited-income residents.
Property records at this time show that the hotel was owned by the Patel family. The restaurant tenant was Joseph’s Coffee Shop and the Avalon Club was being operated as a Pai Gow club.
In the 1990s, The Hotel Ritz suffered two major fires. The first, on December 20, 1995, injured six residents.
A more catastrophic three-alarm fire occurred a short time later on January 31, 1996. The roof partially collapsed, and the upper rooms sustained water damage. Ten tenants were injured in the blaze. The hotel never reopened.
The building was soon acquired by the city through its Redevelopment Agency and demolished shortly after.
The 67-unit Avalon Senior Housing complex was built in its place in 1999 by EBALDC. Its name acknowledges the former Avalon Club that existed for 50 years.
A plaque was installed on the outside of the new building acknowledging the Key Systems thoroughfare through Yerba Buena to the terminal that previously existed here.
