SAN FRANCISCO—SOMA Hotel LLC, a privately held hotel development company, has acquired a development site to build a 250-key hotel here in the South of Market area for an undisclosed amount. It will be the city’s first full-service hotel project since 2008, according to the developer.
The site was purchased from Block 1 Associates, LLC, a joint venture between Blackrock Real Estate and Strada Investment Group. Block 1 owns the adjacent land and has announced plans to build 350 units of residential condominiums and apartments.
Construction on the 15-story hotel is slated to begin in fourth quarter with an expected opening in fourth-quarter 2016.
The property will be a to-be-named, branded lifestyle hotel and will feature meeting space and food and beverage offerings. The hotel will be environmentally constructed in accordance with LEED-Gold standards.
Affiliates of SOMA will oversee construction of the hotel and operate it upon opening.
The fully entitled, 23,000-sq.-ft. site is part of the Mission Bay Redevelopment Plan and is located on Channel St. between 3rd and 4th Sts, situated one block from AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
The new hotel will serve multiple nearby demand generators in the South of Market area, including numerous high-tech companies, the University of California San Francisco Mission Bay Campus and its 289-bed hospital, several clinics and research facilities. Nearby current and under-construction rail systems will provide guests with access to the city’s main attractions, such as the Moscone Convention Center, Union Square, Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf.
“Downtown San Francisco is one of the most difficult cities for new construction, due to scarcity of land and high barriers to new construction,” stated Will Gibbs, SVP, SOMA Hotel. “This will be the first four-star, new-build hotel in the city’s urban core since 2008. The South of Market district is the city’s most dynamic location and there is a minimal presence of hotels there.”
