Features

A leading California hotelier will unveil plans Feb. 1 to transform the ailing Shattuck Hotel into a“three or four star” accommodation, reports city Planning Manager Mark Rhoades. 

Preliminary plans for the first phase of renovations will be presented by Palo Alto-based BPR Properties on that date to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). 

“The overarching goal is to create an upscale hotel, and to add conference facilities in the future,” said Rhoades. 

If all goes as officials expect, the Shattuck Hotel would become the second major upscale hotel and conference center on Shattuck Avenue in the heart of downtown Berkeley—joining the Berkeley Charles, the planned 19-story hotel at the northeast corner of Shattuck and Center Street. 

Initial construction at the Shattuck Hotel would focus on the interior of the building, a city landmark that was, for a time, the longest building in Northern California after it opened on Dec. 15, 1910. 

Fireproof and built of heavy, reinforced concrete, the building was constructed in response to the disastrous 1906 earthquake that left much of San Francisco a smoking ruin. 

“The first phase will reduce the number of rooms and redo the ground floor restaurant and bar area and create a grander lobby,” Rhoades said. 

Most of today’s 205 hotel rooms are small, and many lack baths, Rhoades said. “They want to reduce the number to 150 so they can enlarge the rooms.” 

In a second phase of construction, the developer would add an additional 100 rooms. Plans also call for creation of conference facilities. 

Rhoades said any additional construction would preserve the existing facade. 

BPR Properties owns nine California hotel properties, eight operating under the Best Western Inn banner. The company’s flagship hotel and the site of its corporate offices is the Crowne Plaza Cabana in Palo Alto, where the firm restored a long-vacant hotel built by actor Doris Day and future Caesars Palace casino tycoon Jay Sarno. 

On Nov. 29, BPR president Bhupendra B. Patel—a native of India who holds a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova—filed papers creating BPR Properties Berkeley, LLC, a limited liability corporation formed to own and operate the Shattuck Hotel. 

“Unlike previous owners, this company is experienced in operating hotels,” said Rhoades. 

Developer Roy Nee, who bought the hotel two years ago and announced plans for similar renovations, was unable to complete the project. 

“We knew he was in trouble when he came to us two months later and said he needed $8 million from the city,” said Rhoades. 

Parimal “Perry” Patel, son of the corporate chief, is development manager for the Shattuck Hotel project, said city officials. 

A graduate of UC Berkeley, he obtained a master’s in hotel administration from Cornell University. 

Sale of the property is currently pending, with escrow expected to close within a month, said one city official who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

Dave Fogarty of the city’s Office of Economic Development said the city “can easily absorb two four-star hotels downtown. Many of the people who stay in Emeryville hotels would love to stay in downtown Berkeley.” 

As the Bay Area’s number two visitor destination after San Francisco, Berkeley is a major draw for parents of UC Berkeley students and the frequent conferences held at the university, he said. 

Fogarty said he and Mayor Tom Bates met with the Patels and toured their flagship hotel in Palo Alto. 

“The (Crowne Plaza Cabana) was vacant for many years and they renovated it into a very successful hotel,” said Fogarty. 

The Cabana advertises itself as California’s first green hotel, the only one in California powered by solar energy.