The approved plans for a 5-story building with 15 apartments to rise on the vacant lot at 824 Hyde Street, upon which the former 4-story Chatom Apartments building had stood prior to being destroyed by a fire back in 2010, have been abandoned.
As we noted at the time of the apartment building’s proposal, “while the parcel is zoned for development up to 80-feet in height, building over 50-feet on the site, which sits within the Lower Nob Hill Apartment-Hotel Historic District, requires special approval from the City’s Planning Commission and existing neighborhood density limits would not allow for building more than 15 units on the site, regardless of the building’s height.”
With that in mind, according to the project team, “after assessing the current and future housing market, the project ownership [has] decided to pursue a tourist hotel.”
And next month, the public hearing for a 6-story, 30-room hotel to rise up to 69-feet in height upon the 824 Hyde Street parcel will be held by San Francisco’s Planning Commission.
Does anyone know why there aren’t more small hotel proposals (or conversions) like this in trendy neighborhoods like Castro, Mission, Hayes Valley, etc.? It seems weird we are still building 99% of our hotels within walking distance from Union Square when visitors / tourists often prefer “authentic” neighborhoods. Someone (besides AirBnB) stands to make a killing.
(1) The Tenderloin is about “authentic” as it gets. Is there anything about this block that looks “inauthentic” or Disney-like to you?
(2) In most residential neighborhoods in the city, there are very few lots that are zoned for hotels. Those lots have generally already been built on, either with a small hotel (like in the Castro, North Beach, Cow Hollow) or another type of commercial structure.
Also, a proposal to construct a new hotel in most residential neighborhoods would result in strong opposition from the neighborhood. Most developers of small projects do not want to face endless appeals and/or the threat of a lawsuit.
I meant either conversion of office / residential to hotels, or hotel projects on many of the 1-2 story buildings that are being built up. There are at least 10-20 projects like that in the works in those neighborhoods I mentioned already—though none hotels (all office/residential/mixed use).
This project is NOT in the Tenderloin—I lived a few blocks away for 2 years (and tourists aren’t looking for TL authentic, duh). This is lower Nob Hill adjacent to Union Square hotel district. Half foot traffic is already tourists—there’s several hotels on Sutter and nearby side streets already.
re: your rebuttal #1, I read the comment as implying that the Union Square “shopping mall for people who just got off cruise ships” vibe isn’t very authentic, and I concur.
As since added above, according to the project team’s application, “after assessing the current and future housing market, the project ownership [has] decided to pursue a tourist hotel.”
Can we swap this building for that one that’s supposedly “too fancy” for the Mission?
UPDATE: An updated rendering of the proposed hotel, which is proposed to be finished in light colored thin brick and unpolished aluminum and porcelain, has just been added above.
UPDATE: Supervisors Overturn Planning’s Approval of Lower Nob Hill Hotel