Hotel/Resort Construction

Leisure industry remains solid in state;
SF’s InterContinental Hotel gets ready to open doors

By Robert Carlsen

As San Francisco tourism officials look forward to the completion early next year of the InterContinental Hotel and its much-needed 550 rooms in 32 stories, hotel and resort construction across the country is also looking up.

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The non-residential building market continues its strong pace, and the hotel/resort construction segment is outpacing fairly robust pre-Sept. 11 levels.

According to Lodging Econometrics of Portsmouth, N.H., which analyzes the hotel real estate market, 1,042 hotel projects will be completed this year in the U.S., representing 100,924 guestrooms. Next year, the firm forecasts 1,200 hotel projects coming online, representing another 136,692 guestrooms.

“In California, the value of hotel/resort construction starts grew from $886 million in 2005 to $1.2 billion last year, an increase of 39%, according to McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics. MHC adds that the overall health of the leisure industry in the state will result in another 13% gain in value this year.

Built to accommodate an anticipated increase in conferences and conventions in San Francisco, the InterContinental, at 888 Howard next to Moscone West, features a two-level underground garage and a six-floor podium housing hotel amenities.

(According to the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, the number of convention center groups meeting in the city next year is 48, representing an estimated 626,000 attendees who will use an estimated 926,000 hotel room nights.)

The developer of the project is Continental Development Corp. San Francisco LLC. Webcor Builders of San Mateo is the general contractor, while Patri Merker Architects of San Francisco is the design architect and Hornberger & Worstell of San Francisco is architect of record. The engineer for the concrete, poured-in-place tower is Magnusson Klemencic Associates of Seattle.

Elizabeth Gabel, project engineer at Webcor, says framing is currently completed for all the guestrooms as well as drywall installation. Gabel adds that levels seven through 19 have been signed off by the architect for punch-out.

Gabel says pool waterproofing was recently completed and millwork and tile installation were under way in the spa on level six.

Patri Merker senior designer Alberto Bertoli, who has worked on many high-rise buildings in the West, including the 54-story California Plaza in Los Angeles and the Arco Towers in Long Beach, says the 564,000-sq-ft hotel will complement the Moscone Center with 43,000 sq ft of meeting and pre-function space.

It also includes a destination restaurant on the ground floor; 7,800-sq-ft ballroom; 8,000-sq-ft, full-service spa and health club, including a swimming pool and outdoor deck; and three levels of terraces for public gatherings and open space activities.

All meeting rooms are located on the third, fourth and fifth levels with fourth floor access to garden terraces. Guest rooms starting on the sixth floor reach the 33rd floor, with the upper level featuring the Concierge Suites, Sky Room, Sky Terraces, and the two-level Presidential Suite with sweeping views from the 31st and 32nd floors.

Bertoli says that structurally the building uses a dual framing system of moment frame and core in the central area for horizontal and vertical loads and gravity-only columns on the outside edges, substantially eliminating the need of perimeter beams.

“The skin of the building -- made of Azurlite glass and metal -- identifies transparency and opacity where needed,” Bertoli adds. “All rooms and spaces located on the perimeter will benefit from a floor-to-ceiling glass exterior wall with minimum spandrel areas and for full advantage of the views while all structural components are emphasized by the sculptural treatment of the metal panels.”

Major subcontractors working on the project include Critchfield Mechanical of Menlo Park, Cupertino Electric, JW McClenahan of San Mateo, Northstar Fire Protection (San Francisco office), Architectural Glass and Aluminum of Oakland, Aderholt Specialties of Modesto, Jerry Thompson & Sons of San Rafael and CE Toland of Benicia.

Pacific Views

New oceanside resort captures Mediterranean feel

By Robert Carlsen

A new 102-acre Mediterranean-style resort is rising atop an undeveloped bluff along a mile of California coastline in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The project, formerly home to the Marineland Oceanarium, which closed in 1987 and was subsequently demolished, will open in June 2009 as the Terranea Resort. It will feature a 36-room luxury hotel tower, 13 casitas, 10 villas and five bungalows, all with expansive views of the Pacific Ocean.

The $250 million Terranea is being developed by Lowe Enterprises affiliate, Lowe Destination Development of Los Angeles, and will be managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts of Englewood, Colo.

HKS Hill Glazier Studio of Palo Alto designed the hotel and spa portion; Newport Beach-based Scheurer Architects designed the villas, casitas and bungalows; and Turner Construction in Anaheim is the general contractor.

Vince Quinones, vice president and operations manager at Turner, says mass grading and infrastructure, along with foundations for the hotel, are complete, and elevated concrete decks for the hotel are under way.

“We expect to have seven of the 13 casita foundations and wood framing on five of the 13 complete before the end of the year,” Quinones says.

He says the main challenge to the ambitious project is its proximity to the coastline. “In some cases, the buildings are within 50 ft of a 150-ft cliff abutting the ocean,” he adds. “It’s our project team’s responsibility to preserve the California coastline and native habitat zones.”

The Terranea Resort will offer guests a number of dining options, three pools, 20,000-sq-ft spa and fitness center, nine-hole executive golf academy and more than 55,000 sq ft of indoor meeting space.

The oceanfront spa at Terranea will feature 24 treatment rooms offering customized wellness programs along with separate men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor relaxation areas and a 5,000-sq-ft fitness center with yoga facilities.

The main 5,000-sq-ft pool will feature a water slide and children’s play area.Another pool will be located along the ocean bluff and feature cabanas for privacy.The resort also will offer an adult-only pool.

There will be an executive, nine-hole golf course academy and training facility at the resort as well as boutique retail, a business center, full-service concierge services and an extensive trail system with a 2.2-acre bluff-top park. The property will provide the public with access to an extensive network of trails within and outside the resort.

Meeting and event space includes an 18,000-sq-ft grand ballroom, two junior ballrooms, 19 breakout rooms and three board rooms, as well as expansive outdoor venues with ocean views.

The development plan for Terranea also incorporates environmentally sensitive programs, including the creation of 14 acres of habitat, a landscaping program using noninvasive native plants and a sophisticated water-management plan featuring vegetated open channels known as bioswales to clean water runoff before it flows into the ocean, according to the resort’s operator, Destination Hotels & Resorts.

“We did extensive pre-planning to maintain the construction schedule and to implement preventive measure to address the storm water pollution prevention program,” says Quinones.

Outstanding Citizen

New Sacramento conversion creates boutique hotel

By Robert Carlsen

A complete historic retrofit and conversion is in store for the 83-year-old Cal Western Life Building in downtown Sacramento. The job will include some new terra cotta tiles for the exterior made by the same firm that originally manufactured them.

When the building at 10th and J streets is complete next September, it will open as the 197-room The Citizen Hotel.

“We pretty much had to gut the entire interior,” says Bill Hagman, vice president at Wentz Construction of Redwood City, the project’s general contractor. “Converting an old office building into a hotel was a major challenge.”

Developed and operated by San Francisco’s Joie de Vivre Hospitality, in a joint venture with Rubicon Partners of Sacramento, The Citizen Hotel will be refurbished into a stylish boutique hotel featuring a mansard roof, soaring ceilings and marble walls. The property will also include 11,000 sq ft of meeting space, five penthouses, a ballroom and a 3,000-sq-ft terrace on the seventh floor that overlooks the state Capitol.

Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which operates 25 boutique hotels throughout the state, says his company had never spent as much time talking to members of the community about what kind of hotel they would like to see the firm create. Therein came the name of the property, a kind of grass-roots conclusion, he adds.

“The Citizen is meant to be a true reflection of the community's voice for where Sacramento is going and we hope The Citizen will become a source of pride and joy for Sacramentans,” Conley says.

Brendan Koon, lead architect at Vitae Architecture of San Francisco and Sacramento, says the historic exterior will be “cleaned up” and some terra cotta tiles on two sides of the building will be replaced.

“We located the original manufacturers of these specific tiles – Gladding McBean in Lincoln (Calif.) – and we’re working with them to get the replacements,” says Koon.

Besides replacing windows, the exterior will remain pretty much as is. “The integrity of the architecture will remain,” Koon says.

The project will entail expanding the ground floor to accommodate a 120-seat restaurant and bar off the 10th Street side.

“It is a cast-in-place concrete building, one of the first in downtown Sacramento,” Koon says.

W Hotels Goes Hollywood

Hip owner adds condos to hotel project

By Robert Carlsen

Excavation for the three-level underground parking garage is done and the ambitious, expansive W Hollywood Hotel and Residences is now officially going vertical.

The new W, Los Angeles’ second after the W Westwood, is located at Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, an area that has seen more than $1.5 billion of development in the past four years, including mixed-use projects Hollywood & Highland and Sunset & Vine, as well as renovations to the Egyptian Theatre, Cinerama Dome and the Capital Records building.

The project includes an 11-story hotel with 297 rooms and a 15-story residential tower with 144 condominium units. W Residences will be connected to the hotel on the lower levels only.

There’s also 15,960 sq ft of street-level retail and two specially designed guestroom floors to cater to Hollywood’s film, television and recording press junket business. Amenities will include a signature restaurant with outdoor terrace, W Living Room (lobby bar), W Cine (outdoor lounge), rooftop nightclub, rooftop pool with an outdoor lounge, business center, meeting rooms and banquet facilities.

The W Hotel will also feature the Bliss Spa and fitness center with 10treatment rooms, a sauna, steam room and 10 specially designated guest rooms.

Scheduled to open during the third quarter of 2009, the W Hotel will be managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Webcor Builders of San Mateo is the general contractor on the $400 million project and HKS Hill Glazier Studio of Palo Alto is the architect.

Eddie Abeyta, lead designer at HKS Hill Glazier Studio, says that in this busy intersection the key to the W’s design was to complement the prominent surrounding buildings, such as the Pantages Theatre, the Kodak Theatre and the Taft Building.

Abeyta says Hollywood Boulevard’s pedestrian sensibility and public access were also considered.

“We’re adjacent to a Metro Station, so we needed to address access issues,” he adds. “And we had to be careful of the base condition of the historic Taft Building next store.”

Abeyta says HKS designed the W Dallas, so it had an established relationship with Starwood.

Cicely Rice, senior project manager for Webcor, says placement of the mat foundations started in October and workers have completed the major on-grade foundations adjacent to the existing MTA subway station.

“Two of four tower cranes are erected, so we’re getting ready to go vertical,” she says.

So, how will the W Hollywood fit in with the area’s hip culture and ambience? Ross Klein, president of W Hotels, said it best at the groundbreaking earlier this year: “Our brand’s heightened sense of style, design and ‘Whatever/Whenever' service will mix with Hollywood’s authentic buzz to create the perfect L.A. escape.”

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