Rare hotel with 158 rooms proposed near S.F. City Hall

Rare hotel with 158 rooms proposed near S.F. City Hall

2016/01/25 2:47pm

A Civic Center property owner is proposing demolition of an existing hotel near San Francisco's City Hall and building a 158-room hotel in its place.

If built, the project would be one of the city's largest new hospitality projects north of Market Street.

A 47-room Days Inn at 465 Grove St. would be torn down and replaced with a denser structure, according to a preliminary project assessment filed last week with the city's planning department.

Despite record-breaking tourism revenue and high demand for hotels in San Francisco, only around 1,600 hotel rooms are in the pipeline, mostly in the South of Market Area. Hotel experts have said that isn't enough to meet demand.

Projects cost at least $300,000 to build per room, in part because developers need to add a bathroom in every unit and furniture. Rising construction labor and material costs, which are also affecting housing and office development, are also making it harder to build.

Russell Naylor, principal of architecture firm NC2 Studio, the applicant for the 465 Grove St. project, said that the plans are early and it isn't confirmed whether the project will move forward or not.

"This is a very preliminary feasibility analysis to determine what the approvals process would entail if the owners decide to move forward with the project," said Naylor.

Chirag Investment Co. is the owner of the property, according to public records.

The project would add 43,547 square feet of additional hotel space and 1,000 square feet of additional retail space. There would be 33 underground parking spots, unchanged from the current parking. The height would rise from four stories to five stories.

A few blocks to the east, the Renoir Hotel at 45 McAllister St. is being renovated with financing from Chinese investors through the EB-5 foreign investment program, but no new ground-up developments have moved forward in the Civic Center area.