OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Google Streetview (new tab)

Overview

Erected in 1960, this 403-room, Modern hotel stood on a block-sized parcel fronting Van Ness Avenue between Geary and Post Streets. It was known as the "Jack Tar Hotel" from about 1960 until 08/1982, and from 1982 until its closure on 10/30/2009, as the "Cathedral Hill Hotel." Its demolition made way for the construction of the California Pacific Medical Center campus.

Building History

When erected in 1960, this San Francisco location of the Jack Tar resort chain was the first new highrise hotel in San Francisco since the late 1920s building boom. The Jack Tar company billed it as "the world's most modern hotel," and like curtain-walled skyscrapers of the time, its windows did not open, forcing guests to rely on air-conditioning. It was San Francisco's first highrise hotel to feature air-conditioning in every room. The hotel had an outdoor ice-skating rink, circular heated pool, conference rooms, retaurants and bars, and a wedding chapel. It contained a garage with a capacity for 450 vehicles. The building was supported by a reinforced concrete frame. Some portions, such as its porte-cochère, were framed with steel members.

The Jack Tar became the Cathedral Hill Hotel in 12/1982, although a significant fire marred its first year of operation. This 12/18/1983 blaze took the lives of two and injured 37 more.

Building Notes

The Jack Tar chain also built hotels or motor lodges in Durham, NC, Galveston, TX and Orange, TX, in the 1950s and 1960s.

Edward H. Hunt (1903-1966) served as the General Manager of the San Francisco Jack Tar Hotel in the early 1960s.

According to the City and County of San Francisco Assessor in 2016, the former Cathedral Hill Hotel contained 610 rooms and 248 bathrooms. It occupied a 87,207-square foot lot and contained 416,333 square feet of space. The value of the land was $53,528,728 and the property, $13,382,178, before demolition, for a total of $66,910,906.

Alteration

The Cathedral Hill Hotel underwent remodeling following its fire of 1983.

Demolition

Demolition of the Cathedral Hill Hotel began on 11/15/2013 and continued into 03/2014.