Loews Plants First Flag in S.F.
Loews Hotels has made its way into the market with the purchase of the 158-room Mandarin Oriental, which is expected to close next month. Loews CEO Paul Whetsell says the company has been looking to enter the S.F. market for some time, and Bisnow's market sources say this was an "opportunistic" play for the firm, as the hotel wasn't widely marketed. Managed by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, the hotel sits on the top 11 floors of San Francisco's third-tallest office building at 345 California Center (Here's a look at the 5 tallest in the city). The hotel also includes Brasserie S&P restaurant, more than 5k SF of meeting space (which is a Liquidspace) and a new 8k SF spa and fitness center. This is part of an ongoing expansion for Loews, which has added seven hotels to its portfolio in the past few years. On March 2, the company will open the 400-room Loews Chicago Hotel.
