International Hotel

848–868 Kearny Street · Chinatown

• 15 stories
• 94,280 ft²
• 3,890 ft² lot area
• 120 bathrooms
• Wood frame
• Zoned CRNC
• Sold April 12, 2002

Land$9,540,107

Improvements+$40,997,636

Total assessed$50,537,743

1. 1907

   The International Hotel was built as a fixture of Manilatown, popular with Asian immigrants and particularly with Filipino bachelors. Its tenants were evicted after a decade-long campaign and a police standoff in August 1978, and the building was demolished in 1981. The site stayed empty until 2004, when a new I-Hotel of 105 senior apartments opened, with a community centre and a historical display on the ground floor. The Kearny Street Workshop was founded in the old hotel's basement in 1972 and opened a gallery on the Jackson Street side in 1974.

   San Francisco Filipino Heritage: Addendum to the South of Market Historic Context Statement, 2013
2. March 1, 1974

   The Four Seas Investment Corporation acquired the International Hotel, the building then on the site, on 1 March 1974; by November 1976 a demolition permit for it was outstanding.

   San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
3. November 4, 1976

   The City Planning Commission unanimously found the Housing Authority's proposed purchase of the International Hotel, with about $1,000,000 of community development funds, for resale to its tenants as some 150 units of low-income congregate housing, in conformity with the Master Plan.

   San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
4. 1979

   The International Hotel was demolished, and the smaller Victory Hotel on the parcel beside it went at the same time. The site was still vacant in 1996.

   San Francisco Planning Department, Kearny Street/Columbus Avenue Project: Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Report, Case No. 94.615E, 1996.
5. July 5, 1979

   The City Planning Commission unanimously resolved to take discretionary review of any development proposed on the International Hotel's block, the hotel's site then on its Kearny Street side, and endorsed the Department's work on design guidelines for the site with the neighbourhood.

   San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
6. January 24, 1980

   The City Planning Commission endorsed the International Hotel Block Development Plan, drawn up with a citizens' advisory committee, as the preliminary plan for developing the hotel's block, 6-0 (Resolution 8475).

   San Francisco City Planning Commission minutes, San Francisco Public Library (Internet Archive)
7. Nov 1996

   Permit 9623103S $$$ $14,754,050

   To erect 15 story 106 dwelling units.

8. Oct 2001

   Permit 200110221341 $$$ $55,300

   Grading for tempory power pad.

9. Mar 2002

   Issued Permit M19234 $$$ $12,650,000

   Street space.

10. Dec 2003

    Issued Permit 200312031519 $$$ $5,200

    Erection of tower crane to support construction for permit application 9623103s.

11. Dec 2003

    Permit 200312081777 $$$ $10,000

    Rev. appl#9623103 fire sprinkler addendum 4 to add sprinkler to parking level b1, sprinkler plan for.

12. 2005

    Built.

13. Jan 2005

    Issued Permit 200501183428 $$$ $1

    Revised structural drawings showing 'as built' conditions for housing tower (high rise).

14. May 2005

    Issued Permit 200505122269 $$$ $1

    Renew app 200312031519.

15. Jun 2006

    Permit 200606265031 $$$ $15,000

    Installation heat pumping system at ground floor community room.

16. Feb 2007

    Permit 200702083757 $$$ $500

    Revised existing permit 1090527(06-26-06).installation heat pumps systems at ground floor at community room. hp unit model changed to ductless model. eliminate ductwork at the original design drawings.

17. Jul 2009

    Permit 200907162848 $$$ $5,750,000

    To complete work & obtain final inspection for work approved under permit application 09623103/s.

18. Feb 2010

    Permit 201002247058 $$$ $170,000

    Work on 838 kearny street only. add new sprinklers in new school. total 433 sprinkler heads. existing fire pump and existing underground.

19. Jul 2010

    Permit 201007146582 $$$ $65,000

    New fire alarm system for the "st. mary's school" remodels on all floors fo the building. equipment adds are: 1 remote fire alarm panel, 1 amnunciator panel, 1 printer, 53 smoke detectors, 7 heat detectors, 5 duct detectors, 30 relay modules, 3 monitor modules, 15 pull stations.

20. Mar 2011

    Permit 201103313216 $$$ $4,000

    As built drawing submitted for permit per the sffd district inspector. these revisions include he addition of 2 smoke detectors, 4 monitor modules, and 4 speakers as highlighted on these drawing.devices which are not highlighted, but are in revision clouds, have been relocated.

21. Aug 2018

    Permit 201808318949 $$$ $1

    To obtain final inspection for work approved under permit application 9623103s & 2019-07-16-2848. all work is complete.

22. Dec 2018

    Issued Permit 201812198808 $$$ $1

    Permits for emergency diesel generater was not found. document the existing installation of the emergency generator as it pertains to the original plans and confirm compliance with the 1995 codes at the time installed, under p/a#9623103s/sffd review. for documentation purposes only/no work performed.

23. May 2023

    Permit 202305167804 $$$ $1

    To comply with sffc section 1103.7.6.1- fire only: decibel level test for sffd requirements 3.08 to verify existing sound levels in sleeping areas.

5 nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits are omitted from the timeline. 4 expired permits are not shown. Sources disagree on when the International Hotel was demolished: the SoMa Filipino heritage addendum gives 1981, the Planning Department's 1996 Kearny Street/Columbus Avenue supplemental EIR gives 1979.