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Draft EIR finds demolition would substantially harm historic 447 Battery Street; HPC concurred with analysis
Summary
Planning staff presented a draft EIR for a proposed 18‑story hotel at 447 Battery Street and concluded that the project would cause a significant and unavoidable impact to an individually eligible historic resource (the 1907 Jones Terbach Coffee Company building). The draft EIR analyzes mitigation (documentation, interpretive programs) and alternatives including full and partial preservation; public commenters and preservationists urged retention and landmarking.
Planning Department staff presented the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) for the proposed 447 Battery Street hotel, explaining that the project would demolish or substantially alter an individually eligible historic resource and that mitigation measures identified in the DEIR would not avoid a significant and unavoidable impact to that resource.
Rachel Schott, environmental review coordinator, summarized key conclusions: the building (constructed 1907, eligible under multiple criteria) would experience a substantial adverse change because facade retention would not meet Secretary of the Interior rehabilitation standards and the proposed new construction would be incompatible in scale. The draft EIR proposes three mitigation measures — HABS documentation, an interpretive program and video documentation — but finds the historic‑resource impact remains significant and unavoidable. The DEIR also analyzes a no‑project alternative and full and partial preservation alternatives discussed in consultation with the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC).
Public commenters and preservation advocates urged the Commission to treat the resource as sacrosanct. Catherine Petrin (architectural historian) and others urged full preservation or landmarking instead of demolition and questioned whether the DEIR adequately considered feasible alternatives. Unite Here Local 2 raised worker counts and asked for clarity on how employee and occupancy estimates were calculated.
Staff noted the public review period for the draft EIR was open through Dec. 7, 2020, and that written comments will be responded to in the final EIR. Commissioners asked follow‑up questions about shadows (Maritime Plaza and Maritime Plaza park protections under Prop K), the implications of any landmark initiation petition being filed, hotel market feasibility in the current recession, and the low employee versus room ratios reported in the DEIR. Planning staff said landmark initiation would be addressed in responses to comments and could affect later entitlement steps; procedural and CEQA questions will be resolved in the final EIR and comment responses.
Ending: The Commission opened the hearing for public comment; staff emphasized that no approvals were requested at this meeting and that DEIR comments will be incorporated into the administrative record and the final EIR.
