San Juan Capistrano, CA - The French Hotel in San Juan Capistrano has officially received entitlement approval, setting the stage for the project to continue to construction documents, permitting, and eventually a new hospitality space for the community and visitors alike.

Since project inception in 2021, Bickel Group has worked with Almquist, SWA Group, C3 Civil Engineering, Morrow Management, RSM, City officials, and stakeholders, among others, to find creative and effective solutions to bring the site into its next era. With two nationally registered historic buildings on-site, the utmost care has been applied to the site plan and overall program for the site to ensure the Domingo Yorba Adobe and Casa Manuel Garcia structures can be enjoyed for generations to come.

The existing buildings’ locations, existing slope on-site, drainage, vehicular access, accessibility, and utility services were just some of the challenges the site presented. Working as part of a collaborative and solutions-based team, a design was finally presented to, and supported by, jurisdictional officials that solved for these challenges while meeting the client’s programmatic and design goals. When complete, the project will be a showcase of adaptive reuse and how historic properties can find new lives and new ways of engaging with their surroundings.

Bickel Group is proud to have the opportunity to be part of projects, like French Hotel, with cultural and historic weight, and continues to leverage its expertise in adaptive reuse and custom commercial design to help our clients realize their visions.