A high-profile San Diego restaurateur is betting that Little Italy is ready for a full-service reset button. The proposal on the table: a new boutique hotel stacked on top of a members-only bathhouse and athletic club, with restaurants serving both paying members and anyone wandering in off the street. The project is pitched as a blend of sleep-optimized guestrooms, spa-style recovery spaces, and neighborhood-driven dining, all under one roof.
Arsalun Tafazoli told The San Diego Union-Tribune he is aiming to have key city permits in hand by June, which would put construction on track to start in August. According to the project application, the plan calls for a hotel above a basement level, a membership-only bath house, office space and two restaurants, with roughly 68 guestrooms and multiple wellness areas. Those details and the rough timeline appear in the city filing and the developer's interview.
Commercial records and real-estate listings show CH Projects has stitched together six parcels along Kettner, Juniper and India streets for about $13 million, a land buy that forms the foundation of the proposal, according to reporting by WhatNow. The acquisition, paired with the hotel-and-wellness filing, signals a strategic step beyond the group's familiar restaurant builds into broader hospitality and recovery-focused ventures.
What the project would include
The plans outline 68 guestrooms, an athletic club, a full-service restaurant open to the public and a membership-only bath house featuring hot and cold therapy, sauna and steam rooms. “The rooms will be designed to optimize sleep,” Tafazoli told The San Diego Union-Tribune. The membership side is described as offering food and drink service, plus a tea bar set within a space intended to feel more like a residence than a typical club.
Permits and the flight‑path question
There is one big wrinkle: planes. Airport officials previously labeled the site incompatible with land-use rules meant to limit risk beneath the flight arrival path, and the developer has appealed that determination. In mid-2024, the San Diego City Council voted to overrule the airport authority's objection, although additional council actions and city permits are still required before crews can start building upward, according to reporting from SanDiegoVille.
Why it matters for Little Italy
If the project moves forward, Little Italy would gain a new wellness hub and more hotel rooms in a neighborhood already thick with restaurants, bars and late-night foot traffic. The plan also marks a notable ground-up construction effort from a company better known for rehabbing existing spaces and opening restaurants, a shift chronicled in local coverage and property records via WhatNow.
Next steps and timing
Tafazoli says the goal is still to secure permits by June and start construction in August, but that target depends on city staff approvals, environmental review and any lingering appeals. City records show that an overrule hearing was requested and that staff are reviewing the application. Until those bureaucratic steps wrap up, the schedule will stay more hopeful than firm, according to SanDiegoVille.
