Twelve hotels sit inside 75 metres
Twelve hotel properties sit within 75 metres of the Powell Street centre line between Market and Geary. The records are OpenStreetMap hotel entries read on 19 October 2026, measured perpendicular to the centre line.
Hotel Union Square sits 1.3 metres from the line. The Herbert Hotel at 161 Powell Street sits 13 metres out, The Barnes at 225 Powell Street 19 metres, citizenM at 72 Ellis Street 24 metres, the St. Moritz at 180 O'Farrell Street 35 metres, the Hotel Stratford at 236 Powell Street 39 metres and The Bartlett at 238 O'Farrell Street 48 metres.
The Handlery at 351 Geary Street sits 50 metres out, The Westin St. Francis at 335 Powell Street 54 metres, the Holiday Inn Express at 235 O'Farrell Street 58 metres, Hotel Fusion 66 metres and the Axiom Hotel 71 metres.
What the award funds
The Public Works Commission awarded Clark Construction Group - California, LP a contract of $34,153,810 with $3,415,381 contingency in February 2026. That award authorised pre-construction services only, to a cap of $1,047,819 over 180 days, until environmental review closed.
The commission's 8 October 2026 papers raised the pre-construction allowance to $1,847,819 over 240 days and approved the construction phase at a not-to-exceed of $32,305,991. The environmental description prices the full design at $50 million.
Two scenarios, one calendar
Delivery depends on funding. Full build-out costs $50 million. Phase 1 costs $30 million to $35 million and delivers the Golden Lantern, the catenary lighting and the sidewalks. The roadway and the cable car trackway wait for a second phase.
The 8 October papers set notice to proceed on 5 November 2026, construction start on 15 December 2026 and construction end on 30 November 2027. The papers give no date for the roadway phase.
Frontage and the parklets
Sidewalks run 12 to 15 feet wide and are rebuilt at up to 20 feet, except at the loading zones at Ellis, O'Farrell and Geary. The added width becomes a street-furnishing zone with seating near commercial frontages. The design replaces the existing parklets with permanent paving, benches and integrated furniture.
A ground-floor tenant trades its parklet for that paving and seating. The record publishes no rent adjustment, terrace allocation or seating assignment for the trade.
Basements under the footway
The environmental description lists subsidewalk basements at 22 Powell Street addresses, from 35 Powell to 247 Powell. Roof slabs, beams and columns in those basements need reinforcement, replacement or repair to carry the new sidewalk. The project adds waterproofing over them. Vaults, vents, light prisms, access hatches and freight lifts are preserved in place or relocated.
An owner with a basement under the footway should obtain the structural scope for that address in writing before the sidewalk comes out.
Access and loading
The project commits to open pedestrian and business access through construction, and to coordinating with property owners, residents and merchants. It relocates the four mid-block loading zones to the near side and the far side of each block.
Bag handling on Powell changes for a hotel that loads on the street. The record publishes no replacement kerb assignment per property and no coach staging plan.
Who pays
Funding comes from Proposition B, which San Francisco voters approved in November 2024 with more than 70 percent support, from Proposition L, and from private funds raised by the Downtown Development Corporation.
The contract carries a Local Business Enterprise subcontracting requirement of 20 percent. Clark Construction committed to 33.15 percent in its bid.
The numbers for the asset file
A contract of $34,153,810 with $3,415,381 contingency. A construction window from 15 December 2026 to 30 November 2027. A phase-one scope that may deliver sidewalk and lighting ahead of the roadway. A 20 percent LBE requirement against a 33.15 percent commitment. Twenty-two footway basements in scope across three blocks.
Questions before the cones arrive
Ask the streetscape project manager for four answers: the kerb and loading assignment for your address, the notice period before your block loses vehicle access, whether the structural work under your footway sits in the funded phase, and the scheduled date for the sidewalk at your entrance.
Michelle Woo holds the project, on 628-271-2155 and Michelle.Woo@sfdpw.org. The project page carries an email signup for construction updates.