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Nov 20, 2006 8:02 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by J Church
The story in today's San Francisco Business Times is unfortunately available online only to subscribers. But may as well post the basics.
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And there is one available:
Quote:
Palace uprising: 60-story condo tower
Luxury property would be built above landmark hotel
San Francisco Business Times - November 17, 2006
by J.K. Dineen
The Sheraton Palace Hotel's owner plans to build a slender, glass, 60-story condo highrise atop the landmark hotel, creating San Francisco's tallest residential building, according to documents filed with the city.
The proposed 269-unit skyscraper would emerge out of the back left corner of the Palace's 92,000-square-foot lot, at Jessie and Annie alleys, replacing a 1989 addition to the hotel that would be demolished.
The addition would soar 669 feet. One Rincon Hill, now under construction, will be 641 feet, and the Millennium tower at First and Mission streets, is slated to rise 645 feet.
Skidmore Owens Merrill is the design architect on the project, with preservation architects Page & Turnbull handling the historic aspects.
The Kyoya Corp., which owns the hotel, is controlled by Blackacre Capital Management, the real estate investment division of Cerberus Capital Management, a large privately held hedge fund run by financier Steve Feinberg. James Reuben, attorney for the owners, declined comment on the project.
The revised plans, submitted to the city Planning Department on Sept. 28 by Reuben & Junius partner Joel Yodowitz, would be twice the size of the Palace Hotel's last proposal, submitted in 2005. That application called for a 24-story tower with a total of 377,000 square feet in additional space.
The new addition would include a net gain of 727,109 square feet and bring the total of the Palace Hotel and condo development to 1.2 million square feet. The plan is for 41 one-bedroom units, 63 two-bedroom units, 111 two-bedroom "plus" units, and 51 three bedroom units. There would be three 8,000-square-foot penthouses on floors 58, 59, and 60. The eighth floor roof of the current Palace would be redesigned with a pool, spa and yoga space.
The Palace Hotel, city Landmark No. 18, was completed in 1909 and was the post-fire successor to William Ralston's 1873 hotel of the same name, which was the center of activity for the city's 19th century social elite. The building's most famous feature is the skylit garden court, which the architecture guide Splendid Survivors calls "an example of Parisian opulence equal to almost any contemporary space in Paris."
While the development will certainly come under close scrutiny from historical preservationists, Charles Chase, executive director of San Francisco Heritage, said he has seen the renderings of the proposed development and has "nothing but enthusiasm" for the design. Chase said the corner of the building that would be demolished for the tower was not significant.
"What is being proposed is a modern addition that doesn't affect the historic resource, which is the hotel itself," said Chase.
Still, past proposals for additions at the Palace have been shot down largely because any tower would likely cast a shadow on the garden court. Chase said he has requested a more detailed shadow study of how the new structure would impact the garden court.
"We are looking at and evaluating the effect of the shadowing," he said.
But Chase said several recent projects, including the Paramount luxury apartment complex at 680 Mission St. and 33 New Montgomery St., already cast shadows on the garden court.
Chase called the SOM design "highly transparent" and "light and thin."
"It's not a heavy bulky building, it's tall and elegant," he said. "It's very much a statement of its time, which we think is going to reinvigorate and extend the life of the historic resource."
Under the proposal, the hotel would hold onto all of its 518 rooms. This could become a significant point as the approval process progresses because Hotel Workers Union Local 2 has opposed efforts to convert hotel rooms to condos.
In 2005, the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel floated a plan to convert some of its hotel rooms to timeshare condos, an idea that prompted Supervisor Aaron Peskin to broker an 18-month moratorium on condo conversions at hotels.
J.K. Dineen covers real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranci...ml?t=printable
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