A purportedly haunted hotel in San Francisco sold at auction just in time for Halloween season.
The former Hotel Union Square at 100-120 Powell Street sold its $102 million in debt for about $30 million, the San Francisco Standard reported. The buyer was Hotel Union Square LLC, an entity linked to commercial real estate investor Mahmood Alam, known for high-profile gas station projects in Mendocino County.
The 131-room property opened in 1908 as the Golden West Hotel and is located on a once-thriving stretch of Powell Street now plagued by retail vacancies. It was previously managed by private equity firm Rockpoint Group and hospitality group Highgate Hotels and was converted to temporary residences for the homeless from mid-2020 to late 2021.
The hotel never reopened after that. The owners received a flat daily payment from the city as well as a $5.3 million payout for water and smoke damage during that shelter-in-place period. Rockpoint defaulted on its mortgage in 2023, and a Swatch store in the building’s ground floor closed this year.
During its time as the Golden West Hotel in the Prohibition era, the property had a speakeasy called the Golden Bubble tucked away in its basement. “The Maltese Falcon” author Dashiell Hammett was among the regulars at the bar; it was at the hotel where he had an affair with playwright Lillian Hellman. Hammett and Hellman frequently stayed in Room 207, and her spirit allegedly still haunts the room, with guests claiming to hear strange sounds, feel drops in temperature, and see a woman pacing in front of them.
Hotels in San Francisco and the Bay Area have been navigating troubled waters since the pandemic, with several properties falling into loan default, foreclosure or closing their doors entirely, as was the case with the Hotel Union Square.
Hotel Union Square was one of many San Francisco hotels that were used as temporary shelter during the pandemic, and just one of two that never reopened afterward. Hotel Whitcomb at 1231 Market Street also never recovered; its owners were paid $89 million for a 33-month contract and subsequently received $32 million for damages and lost revenue. — Chris Malone Méndez
Read more
Commercial
San Francisco
Ghostly San Francisco hotel tries to sell its $78M debt
Commercial
San Francisco
Another day, another Oakland hotel default: Moxy delinquent on $35M
Commercial
New York
Rockpoint, Highgate slice $75M off price of Meatpacking site