Central Bay Hotels Home In On High Tech Corps.
<B> Central Bay Hotels Home In On High Tech Corps.</B>
By Judy Jacobs
<I>San Francisco</I> - With the biotech business booming, the airport expanding, meetings increasing and plenty of land available for development, the central Bay Area has become a prime target for hotel development. A number of properties are expected to begin construction soon, while others are in the planning stages.
"The city is right between San Francisco and the airport, which is going through a major expansion," said Marty Van Duyn, South San Francisco's director of economic development. "It's quicker to build a hotel here, and there's an increasing demand for suites and extended stay properties from the biotech industry."
At last count, Van Duyn noted, there were 27 biotech and research pharmaceutical companies in South San Francisco. "We're getting new companies in, and the existing companies are expanding. Genentech employs 4,000 people, Toshiba MRI is also here, Fibergen is expanding and Tularik is breaking ground on a second building," he said.
The area also is raising its profile as a meetings destination since the South San Francisco Conference Center opened five years ago.
"The business has been growing each year since we opened," said the center's executive director, Sandra O'Toole. "In 1997, it increased about 14 percent over 1996. More than 90 percent of our business is corporate meetings, and we draw a lot of local companies, with regional and national attendance. The average size of our meetings is between 100 and 300 people."
Larkspur Hospitality is building two properties on adjacent sites. One will be a 169-room Hilton Garden Inn and the other a 112-room Larkspur Landing.
"South San Francisco is a terrific market," said Larkspur Hospitality president and COO Peter Mulligan. "The companies in the area are growing very rapidly and we think they will continue to grow and do well." At the same time, he added, "It's a tight hotel market, and the hotel product that's already there is old."
Guest rooms in both hotels will feature direct Internet access, voice mail and two independent phone lines. Meeting rooms will offer videoconferencing capabilities.
"The Hilton at the airport is being torn down this month, so we hope the Hilton Garden Inn will be the hotel of choice" for short-stay travelers who don't want to stray too far from the airport, Mulligan said. Each room will have a refrigerator.
The Larkspur Landing, which targets the extended stay market, will offer full kitchens.
"We expect that 25 to 30 percent of the business will be stays of less than a week, and 35 percent to be a week to a month. The rest of the business will be guests who stay longer than one month," Mulligan said.
Larkspur Landing is a new extended stay hotel brand geared toward business travelers to technology-oriented destinations. Seven Larkspur Landing properties are currently under development.
Looking toward the future, Hampton Inn expects to open a 100-room property on Jan. 15, 1999.
"I looked at this market three years ago, and with the airport expansion and biotech growing at an enormous rate, decided that this would be a good spot for the business travel and meetings market," said Vijay Patel, president of Redwood City developer Sri Ram. "With the airport Hilton closing down, this is one of the only markets in the Bay Area with rooms going out."
Patel noted that the property will be more upscale than other Hampton Inns. Guest room amenities will include three phones and data cable lines in each room, a microwave and refrigerator, a 24-hour pantry with snack foods and shuttle service to the airport.
"We're located next door to the Embassy Suites, but our rates will be only about half--$85 to $115," he added.
Meanwhile, Homestead Village will break ground this summer on a 112-room extended stay property that is set to open early next year.
"Our average stay nationally is two weeks," said vice president of development Steve Tangney. Other hotels planned are two Marriott properties on adjacent sites--a 231-room Courtyard and a 157-suite Residence Inn. La Quinta also has proposed a 200-room inn and suite property.