Plans to expand the historic InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel atop Nob Hill at 999 California Street, which was sold to Leadwell Global Property for $206 million last year, are in the works.

As envisioned, the single-story office addition to the south of the hotel’s landmark 19-story tower would be demolished and four-story “annex” would be added along Pine Street.

In addition to 15-20 new suites, the 32,000-square-foot addition would yield an 11,000-square-foot wellness center and new rooftop terrace adjacent to the hotel’s existing Peacock Court ballroom.

According to the project team, the addition would rise to a height of 50 feet, topping out just shy of the ground level floor of the ballroom, “nestle[d] into the sloping contours of the site, [and] gradually stepping back with a series of terraces from Pine Street to minimize the visual impact of the addition.”

And the architecture of the Annex, which is being designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), is slated to be compatible with the historic features of the landmark hotel building, “while avoiding any false historicism, in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.”

We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

15 thoughts on “Plans to Expand the Historic Mark Hopkins Hotel”
  1. Exciting stuff and an appropriate use of underutilized space on the hotel’s property. I wonder how deep they will excavate into the sloped site to accommodate the new program — seems as though a small convention space could be tucked in there as well.

  2. Yep. Into it. Here’s to hoping they do their best to honor the architectural styling and materials of the existing building.

    1. They can “honor” it by not just copying the style and materials verbatim, but rather with a modernist addition that “recalls” the historic style of architecture that now exists.

      1. Uh huh. I think what’s likely to happen is that the firm will design whatever the architect assigned to the project wanted to design, and then after the fact they’ll claim that the design produced “knods” to the historical style of the existing building or “recalls” it or “respects” it or whatever. When in reality it does nothing of the sort and of course it’s all subjective and there’s no way to prove anybody is actually honoring anything.

        That’s Talkitecture. And when they walk away from the presentation they’ll laugh up their sleeves.

        1. Yeah dude, it’s obvious you know so much more about architects than… you know, architects/

        2. To be frank, I just hope we get anything other than aluminum, stucco or cheap glass. It doesn’t need to be chiseled from a piece of marble.

      2. Agreed. I think we can all agree that copying styles almost never lead to a faithful (let alone tasteful) final form.

  3. Seems to me it would make more sense to detach the new building, use bridges to connect it to the old structure, and go higher.

  4. I hope they aren’t touching the section of historical wall (with turret) along Pine Street mid block between Powell and Mason, which is a vestige from the pre-earthquake Mark Hopkins Mansion grounds. I’ve always loved this reminder of old Nob Hill.

  5. As stated, I’m 100% in favor of the expansion plans – anything to preserve this iconic hotel landmark. If this gets stalled or derailed by NIMBYs, perhaps this magnificent building could be converted into residential condominiums?

  6. Hopefully the once-opulent interiors of the lobby, ballrooms and other public rooms in the hotel will be given a sensitive restoration as part of the new owner’s plans. So many of the striking original details were lost, painted over or obliterated when the hotel was “Draperized” in the 1950s and through countless subsequent redecorating schemes.

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