A Hyatt-branded hotel opened in downtown Oakland, hoping to take advantage of more travelers as the pandemic eases and more people return to the office.
The 168-room Kissel Uptown Oakland at 2455 Broadway includes a recreation of the historic 1910s Beaux-Arts structure formerly on the site, the Mercury News reported.
The hotel, part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, also brings 74 apartment residences to the Northgate-Waverly neighborhood. An alliance of Signature Development Group and Jordan Real Estate Investment owns and developed the project.
Michael Ghielmetti, Signature Development’s founder and president, said people are returning to offices in greater numbers. “We are seeing an uptick,” Ghielmetti said. “People are more comfortable with traveling, getting around, going to bars and restaurants.”
The six-story hotel has a rooftop bar and lounge, meeting and conference spaces and indoor and outdoor bars. A deal to bring locally owned French restaurant Occitania is also in the works. The restaurant will be operated by chef Paul Canales, known for his other restaurant, the Spanish-themed Duende.
Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, which tracks the California lodging market, said he expects the hotel will do well in the post-pandemic era. The buzz factor of the rooftop bar “will generate a lot of business from the local market,” he said.
Kissel Uptown may serve as a barometer for the health of the Bay Area’s hotel market. “Other hotel developers will be watching closely as they consider similar hotel projects for the city of Oakland,” he said.
The number of hotel deals increased in 2021 across almost all sizable markets in California, except San Francisco, where the rental and office markets have also struggled to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
Six hotels sold in San Francisco last year, compared with nine in 2020, although the median price was $84.8 million, far above $15.7 million the prior year.
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