A Nob Hill landmark shut in 2020
The Huntington Hotel at 1075 California Street closed in 2020 and reopened on 1 March 2026. GoodLifeReport published the return. Between those dates the property moved through default, foreclosure and a change of ownership. Each step carries a date its publisher states.
The building before it was a hotel
The architectural firm Weeks and Day designed the 12-storey Georgian-style brick building. It opened in 1922 as the Huntington Apartments and stood as the tallest brick-and-steel high-rise west of the Mississippi. Real estate developer Eugene Fritz converted the property into a hotel in 1924 and named it for Collis P. Huntington, one of the Big Four railroad tycoons.
The building carries 1922 as its construction year in the record. The conversion year is 1924.
Two sales and a rebrand
Fritz's grandchildren ran the hotel for decades. In 2011 the family sold the property to Singapore-based Grace International, which GoodLifeReport reports as the first change of hands outside the founding family. Grace International operated the Scarlet Hotel in Singapore and rebranded the Huntington as The Scarlet Huntington after a $15 million renovation that finished in 2014.
The 2018 purchase and the default
Woodridge Capital bought the hotel from Grace International in 2018. GoodLifeReport puts that price at $87 million. SFist, citing Bay Area News Group, reported the price as $51.9 million. Both figures stand with their publishers, and no filing reviewed for this file settles the gap.
The pandemic closed the hotel in 2020 and it stayed shut until 2026. Woodridge defaulted on a $56.2 million mortgage, and lender Deutsche Bank moved toward foreclosure. The building marked its 100th birthday in 2022 with its doors locked.
SFist reported the default documents were filed at the San Francisco County Recorder's Office on 16 August 2022, and the default notice put the amount owed at $61.1 million including fees and penalties. The same report cites a tax lien notice posted on 9 September 2022.
The 2023 change of hands
The property changed hands in 2023. San Francisco native Greg Flynn, founder and CEO of Flynn Properties, partnered with Highgate to acquire the distressed property for well under the outstanding loan amount. SFist reported the acquisition as an auction in March 2023, with a nominal reserve bid of $29 million and no other bidders. The two firms said in a press release that they would restore and elevate every aspect of the hotel.
SFist quoted Flynn on the basis: "We've bought it at a basis that allows us to put in the very significant investment it will take to bring it there." SFist reported at the time that the owners hoped to reopen the hotel in 2025.
The restoration and the designation
Renovation work began in earnest in 2024. Singular Builders and BAR Architects & Interiors led the restoration. The team kept the Georgian details where it could, including plasterwork ceilings, boiserie panels and the windows, and modernised the rest.
In September 2025 the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. ELLE Décor and Vogue both listed the project among 2026 anticipated openings. The record states no restoration cost.
The reopening on 1 March 2026
The hotel reopened on 1 March 2026. SFist reported a neon sign re-lighting and a ribbon-cutting with Mayor Daniel Lurie in the days around it. The Big Four restaurant returned on 17 March 2026 with a redesign by Ken Fulk, Executive Chef David Intonato and general manager Matthew de Quillien.
The house now holds 71 guest rooms and 72 suites, and rooms average about 581 square feet. GoodLifeReport puts the Nob Hill Spa at 11,000 square feet across three storeys. The Big Four marks its 50th anniversary year.
What the sequence leaves open
GoodLifeReport announces the 1 March 2026 reopening in the future tense. Its own posting date reads 6 September 2026 and its hero image sits in an uploads/2026/02/ folder. Read the reopening as a past dated event.
The record gives 2024 as the year restoration work began and publishes no month for it. At the 2023 acquisition SFist reported the owners hoped to reopen in 2025. The hotel opened on 1 March 2026, about a year later. No source read for this file explains the shift.