Developers seek extension for Hearst Building hotel conversion

The hourglass is running out for Hearst and JMA Ventures to convert the historic Hearst Building from offices into a boutique hotel in Downtown San Francisco.

The New York-based media conglomerate and San Francisco-based developer now seek a three-year extension to obtain a building permit past its April deadline for the 13-story building at 5 3rd Street, near Union Square, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The plan to turn the 114-year-old former home of the San Francisco Examiner into an Auberge Resorts Collection luxury hotel has stalled for years.

The 1909 building now includes offices, shops and restaurants. In 1938, architect Julia Morgan redesigned the building’s entrance, lobby and roof.

In 2016, owner Hearst Real Estate and JMA Ventures proposed a luxury hotel conversion with 170 rooms to cost more than $100 million. Hearst Corp. owns both Hearst Real Estate and the San Francisco Chronicle.

The hotel project was approved by the city’s Planning Commission in April 2019 on the condition JMA would secure a building permit within three years.

Plans called for a rooftop bar, a fourth-floor outdoor terrace, a second-floor event space, improvements along Stevenson Street and a full seismic upgrade. The historic exterior and Morgan-designed entrance would be preserved.

In March 2021 the permit approval deadline was moved to April 24, 2023, because of a one-year citywide extension by the Zoning Administrator to account for pandemic delays. The developer’s request seeks another three-year extension to April 2026.

The process may signal further delays for the project, which as of April 2021 had targeted construction in 2022 and an opening date in late 2023 or early 2024.

While an extension request can seem like a formality, developers typically try to avoid such requests because they give the commission an opportunity to ask for changes, although this is rare, according to the Business Times.

The application also triggers another public hearing, and potential community opposition.

Challengers to the Hearst and JMA project in 2019 included an appeal by Friends of the Hearst Building, citing environmental impact concerns, and an appeal by the owner of a nearby building at 163 Jessie Street.

Other complications included a planned new lobby entrance on Stevenson Street in space now occupied by the Lark bar, whose lease runs through 2028, as well as tenants Cask and Local Edition, also owned by Brian Sheehy’s Future Bars.

In September, JMA Ventures completed a $20 million renovation of the 1905 Hayes Mansion, a 214-room hotel and conference center in East San Jose. JMA bought the Mission Revival landmark in 2019 for $27.8 million.

— Dana Bartholomew

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