Fire Delays Kimpton Hotel Opening In San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO— The National Park Service and Maritime Hotel Associates L.P., an affiliate of the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, reported that a fire occurred at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Parks 198,000 square foot Haslett Warehouse late on the evening of Saturday, March 16. The Maritime Hotel Associates is currently leasing and renovating the Haslett Warehouse into a 268-room boutique hotel, called the Argonaut Hotel. Exemplary efforts of members of the San Francisco Fire and Police Departments succeeded in extinguishing the fire early Sunday morning. The hotel, originally scheduled to open in November of 2002, will also include the Maritime Parks new Museum and Visitors Center. The opening of the hotel will be rescheduled for the middle of 2003. The origin of the fire is undetermined at this time. Appropriate investigations are currently underway by building experts and law enforcement agencies. The primary concern of the National Park Service and the Maritime Hotel Associates L.P. is the safety of the historic building and its immediate surroundings. At press time, it appeared that the majority of the building remained intact and the Maritime Hotel Associates L.P. maintains its original intention to rehabilitate the building into a hotel.