Hotel Marysville developer dies; Company led by Lance Robbins expects to continue revitalization of historic building
Robert Summa, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
Updated 4 min read
Aug. 31—Lance Robbins, the CEO of Urban Smart Growth, died on Aug. 24 at age 76.
Robbins, owner of Hotel Marysville and some of the surrounding properties, founded his company in 2004 after rehabilitating more than 6,000 distressed inner city apartment units in Los Angeles, according to a statement from Urban Smart Growth (USG).
"Over the next 20 years at USG, he dedicated himself to enhancing communities in order to breathe life back into old worlds. Whether it was a factory, school, warehouse or other complex, he thrived by bringing new opportunities to these structures so that they were able to flourish once again under new operations," the company said in a statement about his death. "His goal for the company was to achieve a unique sense of community and expand the range of transportation, employment, and housing choices while preserving and enhancing natural and cultural resources. Thanks to his steadfast dedication to this mission, USG expanded coast-to-coast with properties in 13 cities in eight states."
Recently, Robbins and USG have been working to breathe new life into Hotel Marysville, a historic building in downtown Marysville that has become an eyesore and topic of debate among locals who want to see the much-loved structure become more than just a relic of the past.
In August of 2022, Robbins and USG launched hotelmarysville.com, the first real sign that progress may be happening on the vacant and dilapidated building. The website, which is still active, touts what the future could hold for the building — including modern apartments and commercial office or retail spaces.
Along with a planned modernization of the building and its existing units, Robbins told the Appeal at that time that keeping the historic nature of Hotel Marysville would remain a priority.
"We're a very community oriented company. We're not just a carpetbagger developer," Robbins said in August 2022. "We get involved with artistic and mental health initiatives. We look forward to having real community engagement. We welcome community ideas. We're really open minded, especially the bottom area. We haven't decided what the storefronts will be but we are open to suggestions and ideas. If people have historic memorabilia or stories, then we would like to include those. We want it to live. That's been the hallmark of everything we've done."
For officials such as Marysville Community Development Director Dan Flores, having something such as Hotel Marysville become usable again was and still is a high priority for the city.
"The city is very excited about the possibility of this old hotel being redeveloped into workforce housing that will provide housing to our businesses, including Adventist, the air force base, the county and Caltrans," Flores previously said. "We'll continue to support the owner and developer any way we can through the process. We look forward with excitement to see something finally happen with Hotel Marysville."
Robbins previously said the delay in fully developing Hotel Marysville was because of factors such as demand and trying to work with previous city leaders.
"We had years where a certain city official was difficult, so we walked away," Robbins previously said. "We were waiting until someone could work with us. That was the situation for a long time. That person departed and we got Dan (Flores) and Chris (Branscum) and we got a council who is supportive of what we need. This is a difficult project. When we got that lined up, demand kept getting bigger — the air force base, hospital — we said we have demand, we have the unique supply."
On Thursday, USG COO Aaron Iskowitz confirmed with the Appeal that the company has no plans to stop with its development of Hotel Marysville.
"At this time there aren't any changes to operational plans," Iskowitz said.
In response to Robbins' passing and plans for the historic building, Marysville City Manager Jim Schaad released a statement.
"We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Lance Robbins and send our heartfelt condolences to his friends and family," Schaad said Thursday. "Marysville remains committed to the redevelopment of Hotel Marysville and other properties held by Urban Smart Growth within the city."
Along with his role at USG, Robbins also was known for his charitable work with issues such as mental health advocacy, criminal justice reform, human trafficking and people recovering from substance abuse, the company said.
A native of Los Angeles, Robbins graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. The company said Robbins "endowed a chair to specifically focus on social justice and countering drug addiction" at Berkeley.
Robbins is survived by his three children: Becka, Zach and Alexa.
USG said it is dedicated to continuing Robbins' vision and future for the company.
"While the absence of Lance's physical presence is deeply felt, I am resolute in our collective commitment at USG to honor his memory by preserving the essence of his wisdom and continuing the work and projects he was passionate about," Iskowitz said.
In honor of Robbins, USG said donations can be made in his memory to organizations such as the ULI Foundation, Berkeley Law, The Teen Project, or MARICI.
