Organized Labor

Renovation of the historic Canterbury Hotel at 726 Sutter Street is nearing completion. Webcor began preconstruction on the project, along with work on the adjacent Whitehall Inn at 750 Sutter, in September 2006. Work involves a complete seismic upgrade of the 4-story Whitehall Inn and total renovation of the 10-story Canterbury Hotel according to Superintendent Bill Meroshnekoff. The hotel will be operated as Wyndham Resorts Canterbury Hotel by Wyndham Vacation Ownership, with the 242 room hotel being reconfigured into a 115-unit timeshare property.

“The Canterbury is being retrofitted with all new electrical, mechanical, plumbing and sprinkler systems, said Meroshnekoff.

The seismic upgrade of the brick and wood Whitehall Inn, formerly known as the Brett Harte Apartments, involves new rebar and concrete, shotcrete walls and reinforced floors. While the building is considered historic, it is not officially listed as a National Historic Building and posed some challenges. According to Meroshnekoff, the floor joists were re-used as part of the retrofit. He said Webcor has used all union subcontractors on the job and “every trade in the building” is union, with about 100 workers on site on average. The company is a signatory to master agreements with the Carpenters and Laborers.

Carpenters Local 22 field rep Sean McGarey said there were up to 28 carpenters on the job working for Webcor, Boyette Construction, San Francisco Interiors, handling the acoustic tiles installation, and Webcor Interiors, for door frame hardware, crown, and installation of cabinets.

San Francisco-based LDA Architects worked with the Portland interior design Firm Ankrom Moisan on the design and planning of the exterior and interior renovation of the buildings. The Canterbury was built in 1922, the Whitehall Inn in 1914.

The LDA Architects website notes that, “The 242-room Canterbury Hotel was upgraded to modern standards. Tenth floor hotel rooms were combined to form large Presidential Suites with living rooms and guest rooms. The smaller and older Whitehall Hotel was gutted to accommodate Presidential Suites on every floor. The scope of work also included the renovation of the restaurant and bar for a new tenant. The key challenge for LDA on this project was the coordination of structural and mechanical upgrades to the building while maintaining its character. Selective replacement of windows and skylights also required particular care so that new components do not alter the appearance of the building.”

Webcor’s website notes that, “Many historic buildings present great re-use opportunities but need to be renovated to reclaim their original splendor, and structurally upgraded in order to meet strict code requirements.” The company’s other seismic upgrade and renovation work includes conversion of a warehouse at 123 Townsend to office space, seismic strengthening of the headquarters of Charles Schwab building damaged in the 1989 earthquake, and converting a 74-year-old office building into the Omni Hotel.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership, headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is part of Wyndham Worldwide, the world’s largest vacation ownership business. It develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests or time-shares, with more than 145 “vacation ownership resorts” throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.