Historic Benjamin Franklin to remain hotel

All things old are new again.

Owners of San Mateo’s Benjamin Franklin Hotel are selling the historic building with hopes that someone else can restore the charm of the once glorified downtown attraction — as a hotel.

The building was slated for conversion into a residential complex, but the owner, AF Evans Co., realized converting the hotel into housing without parking wasn’t the best idea. Instead, it hired Collier International Hotels to sell it. The Bay Area travel industry is picking up after hitting rock bottom in 2001. Now, a downtown hotel is again a possibility, said Bob Eaton of Colliers International Hotels.

The 100-room hotel is being shopped around as the perfect boutique hotel — not the run of the mill Hilton, Sheraton or Hyatt. There are already two interested buyers, Eaton said.

"Everyone in the hotel investment industry will look at this thing and say it can be something special,” Eaton said. "But the economic question is how good can it be?”

The potential to bring a unique hotel to downtown has city officials and merchants watching with anxious anticipation. A hotel would generate precious Transit Occupancy Tax for the city to use on improvements to police and fire facilities. It would also bring shopping money for restaurants and shops.

"We’ve always wanted it to be a hotel ... it’s really good news,” said Bob Beyer, community development director for the city of San Mateo.

The owners notified Beyer of their intention to sell last week, but there’s no official plans on record with the city. The city would be open to allowing some rooms to be converted into permanent residential units if it would help move the plan along, Beyer said.

Kelly Mitter, executive director of the Downtown San Mateo Association, said downtown merchants were "thrilled” about the potential hotel.

"From the downtown merchants’ perspective, it would be a good thing for downtown. We have no hotel downtown and a city of our size certainly needs one,” Mitter said.

The building was built in 1927 and hasn’t been used as a hotel for many years. In its most recent past, it was rented out by United Airlines to house its out-of-town flight attendants and pilots. That lease agreement was broken when United Airlines filed for bankruptcy two years ago. Since then, the 10-story San Mateo landmark has stood vacant except for a restaurant on its ground floor.

In September, the San Mateo Planning Commission heard plans to covert the hotel into 40 condominiums. The plan called for 29 one-bedroom units ranging from 690 to 900 square feet. It also calls for 11 two-bedroom units ranging from 1,020 to 1,400 square feet.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.<