Best Of 2006 - McGraw Hill Construction

Best of 2006 Southern California
A nearly 100-year-old San Diego
hotel has been restored and is slated to
return as one of the city’s most prominent
and historic attractions.
Sitting at the edge of San Diego’s
Gaslamp district, the US Grant Hotel is
on the National Register of Historic
Places. But new owners, seeking to create
a more opulent lodging destination,
began planning to renovate the hotel
after taking over ownership in 2003.
The US Grant Hotel renovation, a
$52 million project, took nearly two
years to complete.
The 11-story, 270-room hotel received
a number of upgrades from the outside
sidewalks to the suites at the top of the
hotel. The renovation also focused on
three major ballrooms, meeting rooms
and retail space along the street.
All together, more than 3,000 construction
activities were planned.
Renovations were done in five areas
of the hotel: in the guest rooms; in the
suites; in the basement and lobby;
kitchens; and hotel exterior.
Much of the work focused on upgrading
and modernizing hotel rooms. Rooms
were refurbished with material such as
high-end carpeting from India. Bathtubs
Judges’ Comments
“Restored to its glory years.”
were removed from guest rooms and
replaced with walk-in showers. Original
art insured for a total of $5 million was
placed into bedrooms.
Many existing materials were refurnished.
Builders worked from photographs
and postcards to restore one of
the ballrooms. Columns in the lobby
were hand painted, as were metal and
55 California Construction 12/2006
US Grant Hotel,
San Diego
Project Team
Restoration
Award of Merit
Owner
US Grant Hotel Ventures, LLC
Architect
ASCG of New Mexico, Albuquerque
General Contractor
Swinerton Builders, San Diego
Plumbing/Mechanical Engineer
Pacific Rim Mechanical, San Diego
Electrical Engineer
Neal Electric, Poway
Concrete
TB Penick & Sons, San Diego
Landscape
ValleyCrest, San Diego
stair railings and wood floors in the
basement.
While the hotel was renovated,
builders and designers discovered past
materials which influenced their design.
For instance, when the project team
found white marble on the grand staircase
in the lobby, they decided to refurbish
the entire 10,000-sq.-ft. lobby in
white marble. Among the challenges of
refurbishing the lobby in marble was
finding the right period marble with
gray veins to complement the staircase.
This is the second major renovation
to the hotel in the past 25 years. It was
renovated in the early 1980s.