san francisco examiner travel

Auberge Resorts Announces Upcoming Hearst Hotel in San Francisco

The luxury hotel will take over the 1911 landmark Hearst Building.

In 1911, William Randolph Hearst completed construction on a new office for a then-small paper, The San Francisco Examiner. The original building was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and subsequent fire, but Hearst decided to rebuild even bigger than before. The 13-story Hearst building still stands on the corner of Third and Market streets, which became known as “newspaper angle.” The Examiner worked out of this building until the 1960s, when it became a multipurpose office space.

Now, however, the grand, European-style structure is set to become a new Auberge Resorts property, the Hearst Hotel, slated to open in 2023. The luxury resorts group will maintain the integrity of the original structure, while adapting the layout to accommodate 150 guest rooms, a spa, social spaces, a restaurant, and a rooftop bar. Despite this restructuring, it is important to Auberge that the building retain its character, while incorporating the culture and amenities of modern day San Francisco.

"[The Hearst Hotel] is, with one stroke, reaching back into history, capturing some of the theatrical aspects of its past, protecting the design integrity, trying to pull in some of the nuances of the time, and yet make it very apropos for modern San Francisco and the community that’s there," Craig Reid, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Auberge Resorts Collection, tells T&C .

Though Auberge owns resorts in Northern California, this will be the company's first hotel in San Francisco proper. In choosing a property, the team searched for a combination of character and location. Reid hoped to find a unique space for the group's urban foray, and says that the Hearst building had the perfect combination of a central location and "a character and personality that was rich."

To preserve the building's history, Auberge is working with the Hearst family in the remodel (Hearst also owns Town & Country ) . The hotel will even use some of the Hearst family's antiques, including large mantles and light fixtures, throughout the property. Design team Roman and Williams , also behind La Mercerie and Le Coucou in New York, are leading the interiors. According to the resort group, the Hearst hotel will combine William Randolph Hearst's interest in European architecture with a modernized "relaxed, eclectic West Coast living."

Reid also says that the designers plan to maintain much of the existing structure in the building's grandest areas, from the palazzo floorings to the grand lobby to the large windows in the guest rooms. The facade, which showcases 20 cast bronze medallions of animals and a crest above the front entry, will also remain the same. "There's a certain amount of drama; it was a period of architecture that was a lot more ornate than today's architecture," he says.

While the property will not open until 2023, this lead up gives travelers plenty of time to plan their trip to San Francisco. As for Reid, it doesn't feel so far away. "We get giddy when we walk into the building," he says. "2023 sounds like it's a long way off—for us, it feels like tomorrow."

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Clint Reilly Communications Acquires San Francisco Examiner

NEWS RELEASE  

Date:  12 / 17 /2020  

Media Contact:   Frank Holland: 415.531.5259 [email protected]

SAN FRANCISCO –  December 20, 2020  – In a major expansion of its regional publishing business, Clint Reilly Communications – publisher of the  Nob Hill Gazette  and  Gentry Magazine  – today announced the acquisition of the  San Francisco Examiner  and its affiliated publications, including the  SF Weekly . The 155-year-old  Examiner  joins the Reilly family portfolio after nine years under the ownership of Black Press LTD, publisher of more than 150 titles across the western United States and Canada. The sale includes the  Examiner’s  intellectual property, as well as its commercial printing facility on Evans Avenue. Terms were not disclosed. 

“We have provided stewardship of one of the iconic newspaper brands in the U.S. for the past 9 years and are extremely proud of the quality of journalism and the role the newspaper plays in the community,” said Rick O’Connor, president and CEO of Black Press. “However, the  Examiner  has become increasingly difficult for our executive team to manage as many of the team live in either Canada or Hawaii and have been unable to travel to San Francisco.  We are delighted to return it to local ownership.” 

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Black Press LTD in the transactions. Reilly was represented by the San Francisco firm, Farella Braun + Martell LLP. 

“My father grew up in the Mission District selling newspapers on the corner in the 1930s and newspapers have always been an integral part of my life,” said Clint Reilly, Chairman & President of Clint Reilly Communications. “I learned during my 25 years as a political consultant how important strong journalism is to a functioning democracy, and it has never been more critical than it is today. The pandemic has brought an avalanche of challenges to the region, and we look forward to The San Francisco Examiner being a positive force in the community as we rebuild.  

“The  Examiner  is in the Bay Area’s DNA; making a contribution to its legacy is an awesome responsibility and I could not be more excited – or humbled – to take it on.” 

Long the flagship media property of the legendary William Randolph Hearst and the Hearst Corporation, the  Examiner  was sold to Florence Fang and her sons Ted, James and Douglas in 2000 after Reilly filed a landmark federal antitrust lawsuit to keep the paper alive when it had already been closed. It was sold to Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz in 2004, who harbored ambitions to nationalize the  Examiner  brand. The title traded hands once again in 2011, this time to the San Francisco Media Company, made up of a consortium of newspaper executives headlined by Canadian newspaper mogul David Holmes Black of the Black Press, at which point it was joined by the  SF Weekly  and the  SF Bay Guardian under the SF Media Co. umbrella. 

Reilly’s acquisition of the  Examiner  comes less than four months after adding  Gentry  magazine to the company’s portfolio, alongside the 43-year-old  Nob Hill Gazette , which it has owned since 2016. 

In acquiring the  Examiner , Reilly adds to his overarching company’s collection of premium SF Bay Area brands, which includes the landmark Merchants Exchange Building, 235 Pine Street office building, the Little Fox Building in Jackson Square, 340 Pine Street and 360 Pine Street office buildings, the Julia Morgan Ballroom, the Merchants Exchange Club and Credo Restaurant. 

About Clinton Reilly Communicat i ons  

Headquartered in the historic Merchants Exchange Building in the San Francisco Financial District, Clinton Reilly Communications is jointly owned by Janet and Clint Reilly. CRC is part of a diversified family of organizations including commercial real estate, hospitality, event production, food and wine, media and nonprofit endeavors including Bay Scholars – a scholarship program for low-income high school students – and Clinic by the Bay, a free Health Clinic in the outer Mission co-founded by Janet Reilly. In addition to her co-ownership of CRC, Janet Reilly is a member of the University of California Board of Regents. 

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