The prospective new owners of the Dillon Beach Resort offered a rough outline of their vision for the business if the sale, which is currently in escrow, goes through.
Earlier this month at the meeting of the Oceana Marin Association, San Anselmo resident and restaurateur Mike Goebel said he and two partners were working to secure the 55-acre property—listed at $7 million—within the next few months.
“Our goal is to breathe new life into the resort. It has a lot of potential and it’s an amazing piece of property. We’re excited to make it more approachable for tourists and locals,” he told the group.
The resort, established by the Keegan family in the late 19th century, was purchased by Howard and Winifred Lawson in 1925. In the ‘60s, the Lawsons hoped to retrofit the cabins, but the county denied permits to do so. Instead, the couple built the trailer court, which now houses dozens of R.V.s, and a parking lot. In 1988, the Lawsons proposed a 50-room cliffside hotel and condos, a gas station and a community center, but disagreements in the family halted the effort.
“The plan was too overreaching and way too much,” Mike Lawson, co-owner of the neighboring Lawson’s Landing, said. “Out here in West Marin, you want to retain the character of the land.”
The Lawsons held onto the property until 2001, when Fred and Nancy Cline bought the resort for $2.7 million. The couple, who own Cline Cellars winery in southern Sonoma, expressed support for the new owners in a statement posted on the general store’s door last month.
“We feel it is time we transition ownership to a group with more time and passion than we can devote to the Resort at this time,” they wrote.
Mr. Goebel established several neighborhood bars and the restaurant Mamacita in San Francisco before he co-founded Brewster’s Beer Garden in Petaluma in 2016. At the meeting, he described his hopes of renovating the cabins, closing the general store for a brief period to clear termites and upgrade inventory, and honoring existing leases with R.V. owners. The café’s menu and interior décor will also undergo an overhaul and Mr. Goebel said he’s interested in a local’s night and discount to help establish the resort as a community hub. “We love that kind of stuff,” he said. “We want this to be that spot—we want this to be the hub.”
The one lane in and one lane out of Dillon Beach brings traffic woes during peak summer days. In the past, residents have experienced backups that stretched over a mile between Elephant Rock and the resort. Mr. Goebel told the association that he’s aware of this issue and has already reached out to Mr. Lawson and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office to discuss options for traffic management. He said he hired a traffic mitigation team to resolve similar problems at Brewster’s in Petaluma and might consider taking a similar route in Dillon Beach.
“We don’t have a solution in place, but it’s something we’re going to need to address,” he said. “The good thing about us is we’re hands-on operators.”
Amanda Grace, a board member of the Oceana Marin Association, asked if he and his partners plan on a long-term investment in the resort. “I call this a legacy property,” Mr. Goebel replied. “It’s a piece of property I’ll give to my children.”