2018-12-11 01:34:40
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. CABLE CARS. THESE FAMOUS SAN FRANCISCO ICONS ARE HERE TO STAY. BUT ALL AROUND THEM, CHANGE IS HAPPENING. HERE’S WHAT’S NEW FOR 2019 AND BEYOND. COMPLETION OF THE MOSCONE CENTER EXPANSION TRIGGERS NEW HOTEL OPENINGS With the completion of The Moscone Center expansion on Jan. 3, 2019, there has been a surge of hotel openings in the San Francisco market and more to come in the near term. Citywide and self-contained groups will still find windows of opportunity; a calendar of property-specific hotel availability and special promotions is posted at sftravel.com/meeting-planners. HOTELS Including several recent openings, San Francisco hotel pros are tracking as many as 2,500 new hotel rooms coming online through 2021. Last summer saw the opening of the 42-room Lodge at the Presidio, a sister property of the Inn at the Presidio. There’s also the Virgin Hotel San Francisco, which offers 196 chambers and grand chambers at 250 Fourth St. near The Moscone Center. In Central Market, guests can check in to the new Yotel San Francisco, featuring 203 cabins at 1095 Market St., just opposite the chic Proper Hotel that opened in 2017. Located near AT&T Park and Hotel VIA, which also opened in 2017, is a new 230-room Hyatt Place San Francisco at 701 Third St. Construction is expected to be completed in July 2019 for a 351-room Grand Hyatt at San Francisco International Airport. Located at the entrance to SFO, the 4.7-acre hotel site is close to terminal buildings and parking garages and enjoys direct access to the AirTrain light rail system. Long-range hotel plans for the San Francisco market include Langham Place near The Moscone Center, a Waldorf Astoria as part of the Oceanwide project near Mission and First streets, and the Marriott SoMa Mission Bay at Third and Channel streets. For more hotel updates, visit sftravel.com/media. VENUES AND ARENAS Chase Center, the Golden State Warriors’ new, state-of-the-art arena in Mission Bay, will open in time for the 2019–20 NBA season. The new venue is being built on a major Muni metro line with easy links to BART and other transit options. The 18,000-plus seat indoor arena will host not only NBA basketball but also major concerts, family shows, and a variety of other attractions — maybe even your convention! Surrounded by 11 acres of restaurants, cafes, office towers, open space and other amenities, it will trigger the development of a five-acre public park on the waterfront. A new plaza at Fremont and Mission streets leads to the Salesforce Transit Center. Since August 2018, Muni and other public transit services have been going to and fro in the multi-level, $2.2 billion structure, which is topped by a rooftop park. An 800-seat amphitheater, small stands of redwood and birch trees and walkways grace the 5.4-acre park. The Asian Art Museum is also moving forward with its Pavilion and Art Terrace, which will add approximately 13,000 square feet to the existing structure on the east side of the museum’s Civic Center location. Opening date is projected to be early 2020. Don’t forget to check out San Francisco’s SFMeetCulture™ program which allows planners to connect with historically significant a rt and culture venues. For details on these venues and more than 120 others, see page PD14 or visit the Meeting Planner section of sftravel.com. PUBLIC ART San Francisco continues to add world-class installations to its already impressive array of public art. An electronic sculpture by San Francisco artist Jim Campbell, hailed as the tallest public art installation in the U.S., sheathes the top of the Salesforce Tower in 11,000 lights and video screens that can project daily scenes from around the city. Nearby, the new Salesforce Transit Center is home to a new installation by Jenny Holzer, which includes 11-foot-tall scrolling LED text that wraps around the elliptical glass enclosure of the Grand Hall. Using content specific to the Bay Area and California, the LED installation adds a striking element to the architecture. AIR TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION San Francisco International Airport (SFO) continues to grow. Based on current projections, SFO is estimating 59.2 million passengers in FY 2019 and an overall increase of 2.5 percent, another all-time passenger record. Recent new service includes Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong); Interjet (Cancun and Guadalajara, Mexico); Iberia Airlines (Madrid, Spain); Air Canada (Edmonton, Canada); Icelandair (Rey kjavik, Iceland); Frontier (Des Moines, Iowa); United (Madison, W isconsin and Papeete, Tahiti); and Qantas (Melbourne, Australia). Scheduled to be completed in phases from 2019 to 2022, Terminal 1 at SFO will feature an entirely new concourse and Boarding Area B, along with a new centralized security checkpoint. The $2.4 billion project will create a new baggage handling system, new dining and retail concessions, as well as post-security connecting walkways. MEMORIES AND MILESTONES Two of San Francisco’s most family-friendly museums celebrate big anniversaries in 2019. The Exploratorium turns 50 this year. To celebrate its tradition of innovation and curiosity, their summer exhibition will be a provocative examination of identity, confronting the timeless question, “Who am I?” Over in the Presidio, the Walt Disney Family Museum celebrates its 10th year with special programming, including an examination of the worldwide impact of Walt’s most famous creation, Mickey Mouse.
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