Will Rogers may become chain hotel

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 17, 2004 | by Cecily Burt, STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND -- The Will Rogers, a96-room residential hotel on 13th Street in downtown Oakland, has been boarded up since a resident died in a fire in February 2002.

City inspectors declared it a public nuisance and ordered it closed for code violations.

But a new owner has quietly embarked on a plan to convert the potentially historic, six-story hotel into a64-room, "Ramada-style" inn.

Workers have been inside the building every night for the past few weeks knocking down walls, pulling out sinks and hauling out mounds of trash and wallboard -- in one case hurling the debris from the upper-floor windows onto the sidewalk below -- and carting it all away in rental vans before daylight. That's despite city requirements the work be done between 7 a.m. and7 p.m.

Gerald Donahue, the city's principal inspection supervisor in charge of problem buildings, confirmed that Hitendra "Sam" Sinh, who lost the property in foreclosure after the city closed the hotel, has received a permit for a "soft" interior demolition.

Sinh, working on behalf of the new owner, has also has applied for a buil-

ding permit for tenant improvements to convert the 100-room hotel to a 64-unit hotel within the next six to 12 months.

Although Donahue initially said such a permit wouldn't normally trig-

ger design and environmental reviews, he later said the troubled past of the Will Rogers and the building's likely historic status means more in-depth review will be required.

"Because the building has been declared a public nuisance, it's not considered a rehab," Donahue said. "This is considered total renovation of the building, and it has to be built to today's (code) specifications. If it hadn't been declared a public nuisance, it would have been just a simple remodel."

That surprised Betty Marvin, the city's cultural resources guru, who said the idea of transforming the Will Rogers from a single room occupancy to a big-name chain hotel should require not only design review but approval by the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board.

The Will Rogers opened in 1908 asthe Saint George Hotel, one of many lodging houses added to supply housing to those displaced by the 1906 earthquake and fire, Marvin said. It was designed by noted architect Walter J. Mathews and has a mansard-style roof, designed to conceal an upper floor by making it look like an attic.

The building is a primary contributor to the Downtown district, which is listed on the National Register. It is also received a "B" rating on the historic resources inventory, both of which add up to historic "with a capital H," even though it's not a designated landmark itself, Marvin said.

Historic elements aside, Donahue said he did not know how Sinh aimed to provide parking for the new hotel, as the existing building has none. Nor did he know whether Sinh would apply to alter the building's facade. Donahue said that the city's Zoning and Planning Department would review the permit and deal with details such as parking requirements.

"When we met with him, he brought in the standards he has to meet for large (hotel) chains, so they'll have to bring this building up to that standard," Donahue said.

Sinh did not return calls for comment this week. After resident Robert Williams, 57, died in the fire, Sinh evicted the remaining tenants and voluntarily closed the Will Rogers in order to make repairs to bring the building up to code.

Those repairs were never made, and six months later the hotel was boarded up after people were discovered living inside amid debris, cooking on portable stoves and using candles for light. Fire inspectors called the place a deathtrap.

"Mr. Sinh had tried to do this (himself)," Donahue said. "The problem is he didn't have the money, so he lost the building through foreclosure and this other gentleman ended up with it. He was trying to refinance the building to get the money."

Donahue said Sinh filed the permit applications on behalf of the new owner, who is listed as "Seema WillRogers, LLC." Sinh was required to put up a cash security bond between $25,000 and $50,000, and if the work is not completed within six to 12 months, the bond will be forfeited, Donahue said.