Staff says draft EIR finds proposed 18-story hotel would have significant, unavoidable impact on historic 447 Battery Street

Planning Department staff told the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission on Nov. 4 that the draft environmental impact report for a proposed hotel at 447 Battery Street identifies the existing 1907 Jones Dierbach Coffee Company building as a historical resource and that the project would cause a "substantial adverse change" to that resource.

"The draft EIR concluded that the proposed project would result in a substantial adverse change to the significance of the individual historic resource at 447 Battery Street," planning staff said during the department's presentation. Staff said the finding is "significant and unavoidable" under the California Environmental Quality Act and summarized three mitigation measures: Historic American Buildings Survey-type documentation, an interpretive history program, and video documentation of the subject building.

The project sponsor proposes demolition of most of the existing structure's interior and non-visible side facades, retention of most visible east- and south-facing facades, and a new privately owned public open space along Merchant Street. The presentation described an approximately 7,178-square-foot footprint with an 18-story, 200-foot hotel containing 198 rooms, two restaurants and conference facilities.

Staff analyzed three alternatives in the draft EIR: the no-project alternative, a full-preservation alternative that would retain and rehabilitate the majority of character-defining features with a modest vertical addition, and a partial-preservation alternative that would retain the street-facing facades and place a 12-story mass behind and above them. Staff said the partial-preservation alternative would not avoid the significant impact related to demolition and would have similar mitigation needs as the proposed project.

Commissioners pressed staff on whether the partial-preservation alternative meaningfully differs from the proposed project because both would involve substantial demolition. Several commissioners questioned the visual compatibility of a tall addition with the retained base and asked staff to ensure that mitigation and design considerations — including window fenestration, cornice treatments and the "hyphen" or setback between old and new masses — are clearly articulated in the comment letter to the Planning Commission.

Planning staff said they will incorporate the commission's comments into a letter to the Planning Commission and that the Historic Preservation Commission is not taking an action on certification of the EIR at this hearing.

The draft EIR was published Oct. 20, 2020, and the public review period runs through Dec. 7, 2020; the Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Nov. 12, staff said.