Waterfront Developments Spurred By Earthquake
<B> Waterfront Developments Spurred By Earthquake</B>
By Judy Jacobs
San Francisco hotel development is moving in directions that would have been unimaginable a decade ago, with new hotels developing in the Union Square and South of Market neighborhoods. At the same time, the city is turning its attention to the waterfront, in a series of developments that will change the face of the San Francisco forever.
Two hotels have opened in Union Square and South of Market, providing unique business travel accommodation experiences that are expected to set them apart from other San Francisco hotels. The long-awaited W San Francisco opened in May as the first of what will be several south of Market, Moscone Convention Center area, hotels, and one of Starwood's first properties in its new W branding. "We envision our hotel as half business travelers and half groups--the groups being conventions at the nearby Moscone Center and in-house corporate and association meetings," said Melinda Speck, director of sales and marketing.
Across Market, the Kimpton Group will open another unique hotel, the 236-room Serrano in the old Californian Hotel building, a 1940s Spanish revival building three blocks west of Union Square on the edge of the city's theater district. The hotel retains much of its original decorative Moroccan style and has been designed to create a residential ambience.
"We've always worked hard at making each of our hotels a home away from home, and although the Serrano is a four-star hotel, it will be more fun and lively than a typical four-star property," said Steve Pinetti, the Kimpton Group's vice president of sales and marketing. "We've hired a games adviser from University Games to help us. During the wine hour I'd like to have a game meister teaching people how to play international and maybe some medieval games. It will be a chance for business travelers to relax and have fun after a day of appointments," Pinetti said. There also will be a game on the desk in each room and an honor bar of games that people can purchase and play and then take home with them.
On The Waterfront
Meanwhile, San Francisco has begun to look at developing its waterfront, traditionally a maritime district. Part of the area's former lack of appeal to developers was the Embarcadero Freeway, which ran along the waterfront and separated the area from the rest of the city. Damage caused by the earthquake of 1989 changed all that. The freeway was torn down, and the waterfront became accessible. And that was just the beginning.
"The Embarcadero is turning from a port facility to an entertainment facility and that, along with several other developments, will greatly improve what the city has to offer to meetings and conventions," said Doug Nielsen, vice president of sales of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau.
In the next few years, the waterfront district will become an integral part of what San Francisco has to offer. The area will be anchored in the south by Pacific Bell Park--the new $300 million home of the San Francisco Giants scheduled to open next April--and in the north by Fisherman's Wharf. A San Francisco Muni electric rail line eventually may connect the two.
Across from the Ferry Building--which will undergo a major renovation, converting it to retail and commercial space--on a site that currently acts as a S.F. Muni bus turnaround, San Francisco's Joie de Vivre Hotels intends to build a seven-story, 195-room, loft-style hotel which will open in 2002. Twenty-five of the hotel's rooms actually will be two-story lofts, and the hotel's target market will be business travelers.
Also in the planning stages is a 350- to 400-room, full-service hotel earmarked for the foot of Broadway Street. Two companies currently are bidding to develop the project. Further north along the waterfront, the Kimpton Group intends to open a hotel in an abandoned building next to The Cannery in the summer or fall of 2000. It will be the company's second property in the Fisherman's Wharf area. Although not a typical location for a Kimpton hotel and not the typical type of hotel for the Wharf, Kimpton seems to have a successful formula. Its Tuscan Inn ran the highest occupancy of any property at the Wharf last year.