Executive Summary Conditional Use Authorization HEARING DATE: JULY 30, 2020 Record No.: 2019-019722CUA Project Address: 916 KEARNY STREET Zoning: Chinatown-Community Business (CCB) Zoning District 65-N Height and Bulk District Block/Lot: 0176/013 Project Sponsor: Tara Sullivan Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP 1 Bush Street, Suite 600 San Francisco, CA 94104 Property Owner: Sofia Properties, LP 916 Kearny Street San Francisco, CA 94133 Staff Contact: Jonathan Vimr – (415) 575-9109 [email protected] Recommendation: Approval with Conditions PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Project would convert an existing office use at floors three through seven of the landmark Columbus Tower (aka Sentinel Building) to a Hotel use occupying 5,743 square feet and accommodating 15 guest rooms. Limited ground floor interior alterations are proposed to create the hotel lobby and reception area. No changes are proposed for the exterior, basement, ground floor restaurant, second, or eighth floors. REQUIRED COMMISSION ACTION In order for the Project to proceed, the Commission must grant a Conditional Use Authorization, pursuant to Planning Code Sections 121.4, 303, and 810, to allow for a change of use to a Hotel exceeding 5,000 square feet in the Chinatown-Community Business Zoning District. ISSUES AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS • Public Comment & Outreach. o Support/Opposition: As of the writing of this report, the Department has received no letters in support of or opposition to the project. • Hotel Use. o Coronavirus Pandemic: In order to approve a Conditional Use Authorization for a hotel the Planning Commission must consider, among other things, the market demand for a hotel of the type proposed. Prior to the ongoing pandemic, hotel uses in San Francisco have www.sfplanning.org Executive Summary RECORD NO. 2019-019722CUA Hearing Date: July 30, 2020 916 Kearny Street consistently seen occupancy rates in the low-mid 80s percent range. Year to year, the occupancy rate has remained approximately 20 points above the national average and the city has been among the strongest lodging markets in the country. In light of the effects to tourism and the lodging industry created by the crisis, the Department requested an update to the initially submitted market demand study (see Appendix G). This addendum projected that demand will have a substantial recovery in 2021, returning to the 2019 occupancy rate by the end of 2023. Given the time associated with obtaining permits and completing construction, the proposed hotel would likely open at some point within this recovery period. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The Project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) as a Class 1 and Class 3 categorical exemption. BASIS FOR RECOMMENDATION The Department finds that the Project is, on balance, consistent with the Mission Area Plan and the Objectives and Policies of the General Plan. The project converts an existing commercial use occupying five levels of the subject building to a small Hotel use, which will partially address San Francisco’s projected market demand (even despite the current health pandemic) and provide guest rooms in a tourism-rich area of the city. The Department also finds the project to be necessary, desirable, and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, and not to be detrimental to persons or adjacent properties in the vicinity. ATTACHMENTS: Draft Motion – Conditional Use Authorization with Conditions of Approval Exhibit B – Plans and Renderings Exhibit C – Environmental Determination Exhibit D – Land Use Data Exhibit E – Maps and Context Photos Exhibit F - Project Sponsor Brief Exhibit G – Market Demand Analyses 2 Planning Commission Draft Motion HEARING DATE: JULY 30, 2020 Record No.: 2019-019722CUA Project Address: 916 KEARNY STREET Zoning: Chinatown-Community Business (CCB) Zoning District 65-N Height and Bulk District Block/Lot: 0176/013 Project Sponsor: Tara Sullivan Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP 1 Bush Street, Suite 600 San Francisco, CA 94104 Property Owner: Sofia Properties, LP 916 Kearny Street San Francisco, CA 94133 Staff Contact: Jonathan Vimr – (415) 575-9109 [email protected] Recommendation: Approval with Conditions ADOPTING FINDINGS TO APPROVE A CONDITIONAL USE AUTHORIZATION PURSUANT TO PLANNING CODE SECTIONS 121.4, 303, AND 810, TO ALLOW A CHANGE IN USE TO A HOTEL AT FLOORS THREE THROUGH SEVEN OF THE PROEPRTY LOCATED AT 916 KEARNY STREET, LOT 013 IN ASSESSOR’S BLOCK 0176, WITHIN THE CCB (CHINATOWN-COMMUNITY BUSINESS) ZONING DISTRICT AND A 65-N HEIGHT AND BULK DISTRICT, AND ADOPTING FINDINGS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT. THE HOTEL USE WOULD OCCUPY APPROXIMATELY 5,743 SQUARE FEET ON FLOORS THREE THROUGH SEVEN AND ACCOMMODATE FIFTEEN GUEST ROOMS. PREAMBLE On October 18, 2019, Tara Sullivan of Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP (hereinafter "Project Sponsor") filed Application No. 2019-019722CUA (hereinafter “Application”) with the Planning Department (hereinafter “Department”) for a Conditional Use Authorization to convert floors three through seven of the landmark Columbus Tower (aka Sentinel Building) from an office use to a fifteen room, approximately 5,743 square- foot hotel at 916 Kearny Street, Block 1076 Lots 013, 007 and 024 (hereinafter “Project Site”). The project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) as a Class 1 and Class 3 categorical exemption. On July 30, 2020, the San Francisco Planning Commission (hereinafter “Commission”) conducted a duly noticed public hearing at a regularly scheduled meeting on Conditional Use Authorization Application No. 2019-019722CUA. www.sfplanning.org Draft Motion RECORD NO. 2019-019722CUA July 30, 2020 916 Kearny Street The Planning Department Commission Secretary is the custodian of records; the File for Record No. 2019- 019722CUA is located at 1650 Mission Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, California. The Commission has heard and considered the testimony presented to it at the public hearing and has further considered written materials and oral testimony presented on behalf of the applicant, Department staff, and other interested parties. MOVED, that the Commission hereby authorizes the Conditional Use Authorization as requested in Application No. 2019-019722CUA, subject to the conditions contained in “EXHIBIT A” of this motion, based on the following findings: FINDINGS Having reviewed the materials identified in the preamble above, and having heard all testimony and arguments, this Commission finds, concludes, and determines as follows: 1. The above recitals are accurate and constitute findings of this Commission. 2. Project Description. The Project includes a change in use on floors three through seven of the subject property from an existing office use to a hotel. The hotel would occupy approximately 5,743 square feet and accommodate 15 guest rooms. Limited ground floor interior alterations are proposed to create the hotel lobby and reception area. No changes are proposed for the exterior, basement, ground floor restaurant, second, or eighth floors. 3. Site Description and Present Use. The subject property occupies a triangular lot at the south end of the intersection of Kearny Street and Columbus Avenue, with Jackson Street to the south of the property at Block 0176, Lot 013. The parcel is approximately 1,219 square feet in area. The property is located at an eastern edge of the CCB (Chinatown-Community Business) Zoning District, and the 65-N Height and Bulk District. It is developed with the 8-story over basement, landmark Columbus Tower (aka Sentinel Building) completed in 1907. Its present use consists of mechanical/storage mixed with some office in the basement, Café Zoetrope at the ground floor, office use at floors two through seven, and a single residence occupying the top level. 4. Surrounding Properties and Neighborhood. The Project Site is located on the eastern edge of the Chinatown-Community Business Zoning District, forming a sort of transition from the Financial District to the south into either Chinatown to west, or Jackson Square and North Beach immediately to the east and north. Parcels within the vicinity consist of mixed-use buildings, generally with ground-floor retail and other commercial (office, hotel) uses above, though some residential use also prevails. Many of the structure date to the post-1906 earthquake and fire reconstruction, with several more recent buildings scattered in. 5. Public Outreach and Comments. As of drafting this document, the Department has received no correspondence expressing opposition to or support of the project. 2 Draft Motion RECORD NO. 2019-019722CUA July 30, 2020 916 Kearny Street 6. Planning Code Compliance. The Commission finds that the Project is consistent with the relevant provisions of the Planning Code in the following manner: A. Hotel. Planning Code Section 810 states that the Hotel use is conditionally permitted in the CCB Zoning District, as defined by Planning Code Sections 102 and 303. The Project proposes conversion of floors three through seven to create a Hotel use consisting of 15 guest rooms and occupying 5,743 square feet. The Project will create new hotel jobs, with the Project Sponsor expecting that new hires will largely be local, minimizing effects on the demand for new housing, public transit, childcare, and other social services. The project site is well served by numerous public transit options and accessible via bike and foot. The Project Sponsor intends to largely hire local residents for the Project’s construction work, and for the hotel’s operation (see Section 8 of this motion for Planning Code Section 303(g) Hotel findings). B. Non-Residential Use Size Limits in Mixed Use Districts. Planning Code Section 121.4 states that commercial uses exceeding the use size limits listed in Section 121.4 shall be permitted only as Conditional Uses subject to the provisions of Planning Code Section 303 (see Section 7 of this motion for Planning Code Section 303 findings). The Chinatown-Community Business District has a use size limit of 5,000 square feet, with no use size maximum. Therefore the proposed 5,743 square foot hotel can be approved provided it obtains Conditional Use Authorization.