New 144-Room Hotel Proposed For Battery Street Near Washington

New 144-Room Hotel Proposed For Battery Street Near Washington447 Battery St., showing Club Quarters and Le Meridien at the left. (Photo: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline)
Geri Koeppel
Published on March 07, 2016

Yet another high-rise hotel has been proposed for the FiDi, right around the corner from the proposed hotel at 439 Washington St. that we reported on earlier today.

A document filed with SF Planning reveals plans to erect a 198-foot, 18-story hotel at 447 Battery St. at Merchant Street, between Washington and Clay Streets. There are two other hotels within a block of 447 Battery: the seven-story Club Quarters Hotel at 424 Clay St., and the 24-story Le Meridien at 333 Battery St.

If approved, the more than 20,000-square-foot, three-story brick building—currently home to a Cort Furniture rental showroom—would be demolished. In its place would rise a 198-foot-tall building with 144 hotel rooms, nine residential units, a hotel and residential lobby, ground-level retail, a loading dock and below-grade parking. The project's cost, according to a public document filed with the Planning Department, would be $64,000,000.

We left several messages for the contact listed on the application for 447 Battery—Andrew Junius of Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP land use and real estate law firm—but he did not reply by deadline.

preliminary project assessment (PPA) was filed on Sept. 2014, and last week, the project sponsor submitted an application for environmental reviewA post-PPA meeting will happen next week, we're told.

If the project passes muster, it would go up alongside another planned high-rise hotel at 439 Washington St., the current site of Il Massimo that's adjacent to the SF Fire Department station at 530 Sansome St. Planning has recommended major changes to the height and appearance of that hotel, including cutting the height from 200 to about 100 feet.

The Golden Gateway Tenants Association, which represents residents of the nearby Gateway Apartments and Townhomes, is keeping an eye on both projects. (Full disclosure: this reporter is a GGTA board member.) With regards to 447 Battery, "we are looking forward to getting as much information as we can about it," GGTA president Bill Hannan said.