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Amid the San Francisco hotel industry's labor strife, its shriveled revenue and its unprecedented competition, Chip Conley is betting $52 million that business is about surge back with a vengence.
And if you live in San Francisco, you're taking that bet right along with him.
That's because Conley's Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the largest operator of San Francisco boutique hotels, is ,using a 65-year lease and revenuesharing agreement with the city as the platform for its first-ever newbuild hotel development its firstever luxury hotel and the first new hotel constructed in the city since the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001.
Seven years in the making, the project is poised to remain a touchstone, not just for Conley's company, but for his industry, his neighbors and his city.
The property, Hotel Vitale, is now nearly finished, and Joie de Vivre is prepaing for a March opening.
Conley's codeveloper, Oz Erickson's Emerald Fund, will be watching the early returns, as will a large chunk of the hospitality industry. Vitale goes across the street from the Ferry Plaza - credited with leading a renaissance along the waterfront - and will compete with the Park Hyatt, W Hotel and even the Four Seasons.
"As the market in San Francisco starts to improve, some of our four-star hotels will be in a position where they have to move their rates up," Conley said. -fhat works well for us. As the full corporate rate goes to $350, $325, we can...