Hotel Sebastopol

Updates

March 2025

We're happy to share the below call for entry for an art exhibit on our lot called The Belonging Project. Developed in conjunction with Sebastopol Center for the Arts, we invite artists to submit ideas for sculptures, site-specific artworks, or installations that explore the theme of Belonging, delving into the intricate connections between people and places, the bonds that tie individuals to a community, and the universal search for a sense of connectedness. The concept of Belonging is multifaceted, and we’re eager to see how artists interpret and expand upon it. This call for entries is an opportunity to think creatively about the relationship between art and space, as well as to consider how art can spark dialogue around themes of inclusion, identity, community, and shared experiences.

Through this collaboration with the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, we hope to create a dynamic, immersive experience that not only beautifies our lot through interim use as we move towards breaking ground on our hotel project, but also fosters a sense of connection and reflection in all who interact with the works on displa

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March 2024

It's been a while, so we’d like to share an update from our Hotel Sebastopol team: Our project’s financing situation unfortunately remains largely unchanged from our last communication. Our loan closing process (through a federal USDA program) continues to take longer than anticipated. As we await finalization of our construction loan, we have continued the necessary work on the project to prepare for an eventual groundbreaking, including moving forward with our applications with PG&E and Caltrans. The City remains a very eager and committed partner, as does our General Contractor. We, too, remain committed to the hotel project and eagerly await the opportunity to begin construction.

May 2023

We continue to make progress towards groundbreaking of our Hotel Sebastopol project. The loan closing process has taken a bit longer than anticipated, but based upon our current schedule, construction is anticipated to begin this fall. We look forward to celebrating groundbreaking in a fun and festive way with you all soon!

October 2022

We are excited to share that we have selected a general contractor and have pulled the construction permit for the hotel Sebastopol project! Our team is currently conducting on-site pre-construction activities. Before breaking ground we will develop a Construction Management Plan for City approval, which will include frequent outreach to our immediate neighbors to alert them to construction activities and milestones. We look forward to celebrating groundbreaking with the greater community next year!

March 2022

The Hotel Sebastopol team has been busy working on the project, including finalizing our interior design, making small tweaks to outdoor spaces, and working with potential contractors. We aim to break ground later this year and are very excited to become a member of the Sebastopol community! We also wanted to share some photos of the newest pieces from Sebastopol-based artist Ned Kahn’s temporary kinetic sculpture installation. They’ve become a fun and unique part of town and we are so happy we’ve been able to provide space for them over the past few years. We look forward to having a permanent Ned Khan kinetic piece at the finished Hotel Sebastopol and are grateful to Ned and his team for our ongoing collaboration.

January 2021

We wanted to share a recent article in the Press Democrat about Ned Kahn’s temporary kinetic sculpture installation on our project site. We are so pleased to be able to provide space for Ned's work as we await the groundbreaking of our project. One of Ned's pieces will be incorporated into the finished hotel, and it is our hope that it will be an inspiration for generations to come.

November 2020

We’re excited to announce the installation of the first few pieces of Ned Kahn’s kinetic sculpture collection. You can expect to see new wind activated sculptures placed on the site in upcoming months through the beginning of next year. With this temporary activation of the future site of Hotel Sebastopol, our goal is to help bridge the gap between downtown and the Barlow, and help draw people between the two districts. We eventually hope to incorporate the art into upcoming downtown events, helping to promote downtown Sebastopol as a place to visit. The large, outdoor nature of the site makes socially distanced enjoyment easy, but please be mindful of safe practices when enjoying the artwork. More pieces will be installed periodically, so stay tuned for updates! We are so pleased and grateful to Ned and his team for this wonderful collaboration.

July 2020

Hello from the Hotel Sebastopol team. We hope you and yours are healthy and doing well during these unprecedented times. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have complicated our plans, we remain committed to the Hotel Sebastopol project and are excited to become a member of the Sebastopol community.

The crisis has necessitated a delay in our groundbreaking, however, and we will not commence construction this year as planned. This delay will enable us to rethink some of our programming and interior spaces to allow more flexible uses to reflect and respond to the changing nature of travel in the post-pandemic world and the needs for new social distancing protocols. Changes will be minor and not affect the exterior of the building. We are in discussions with the Planning Department on the procedural steps made necessary by this change in timeline.

Until we break ground, we will be utilizing the site for various interim uses. On our main lot, artist Ned Kahn will be installing a new set of kinetic sculptures focused on increasing awareness, appreciation, and stewardship of the atmosphere. We hope this installation will animate the space and delight and engage the community. We are also in discussions with various community members regarding interim activations of our two lots along Brown Street. Furthermore, our property fence will be improved and spruced up later this summer.

If you have any further ideas for interim site uses, please send them our way as we would like to hear any and all thoughts on how to activate and improve the site as we wait to break ground.

Thank you for your continued support of our project. We hope to celebrate our groundbreaking with you all soon.

December 2019

Happy Holidays from all of us at Hotel Sebastopol and Piazza Hospitality. We wish you a happy and joyous end to the year. As we close the year, our heart goes out to all those affected by the recent Kincade fire and its associated impacts.

As a project update, we remain fully committed to the Hotel Sebastopol project. Our team anticipates the building permit being ready for pickup by the end of the year, though we will likely wait until the Spring (2020) for groundbreaking to allow time for the bid process, general contractor interviews, and the weather to improve.

Furthermore, given the recent Sonoma County wildfires, we are looking into ways the hotel may serve as a shelter in instances of natural disaster. This could include making our meeting facilities available with back-up power (for heating/cooling - vital for the elderly), ventilation (necessary for bad air-quality during wildfires), small refrigeration (for medications, etc.), plug loads for communications, and storage for emergency preparedness supplies. This effort would include registering the hotel as resilience shelter during times of emergency. We realize that fires and floods, and power shut offs are part of our future in Sonoma County, and we hope to be prepared and supportive to our community in the future.

August 2019

To date we have received all Design Review, Art, and Tree Permit approvals. Our complete set of Construction Drawings have now moved through the City review process for the second time and our team is responding to comments issued by City staff and third-party plan checkers.

Our schedule has been impacted by delays associated with the plan check process and solar system design, so we no longer plan to break ground this Fall. We plan to submit our revised building plans for a third review in September. Depending on the amount of time needed for review and any additional comments that require responses, we hope to secure our building permit at the end of November and break ground later in the winter, depending on weather and other factors. As such, we will appear on the Sept 24th Planning Commission Agenda for a time extension of our approved Use Permit. We are also currently in the process of interviewing general contractors.

In the meantime, we are soliciting ideas for interim uses of our lot. Please let us know if you have any thoughts on temporary ways to activate the site before construction begins.

May 2019

We recently resubmitted our building plans to the City after incorporating all feedback received to date from various City departments. The City will now review our plans as we move towards securing a final building permit. We hope to secure this permit in the coming months and will go out to bid the construction contract once we have received final City sign-off. Currently, construction is planned to commence in the early Fall. Many have asked how our site fared after the recent flooding east of our project. The site was not impacted at all, though as a result of the flood we asked our engineers to review the flood data and our site plan. They confirmed we are well located and have a good design program to off-set any impacts of future flood events to the 100 year flood line and beyond. Our hearts go out to the businesses and residents affected by this winter’s floods.

September 2018

We have now officially filed our construction documents with the City of Sebastopol which begins the process of City review. We hope to secure our construction permit within four to six months and plan to begin construction, weather permitting, shortly thereafter. We’ve also further defined our sustainability program, and now plan to fully embrace Sebastopol’s commitment to environmental stewardship by aiming to achieve both LEED certification and zero net energy (ZNE) status. In other words, all energy needed for operations will be produced on site. To achieve this, plans now include an array of solar panels on our roof and over our parking area, as well as a slew of energy efficiency measures. Hotel Sebastopol will be the very first zero net energy hotel in the state of California!

February 2018

Our team completed our 100% Design Development documents which broadly define and describe all important aspects of the project. We have now begun our detailed construction documents, preliminary versions of which will be submitted to the City for review come Spring. We've begun interior design work for all project uses, including the restaurant, wellness center, lobby/co-working space, and hotel rooms. We also asked local photographer Rob Schied to document the artwork installed along our temporary fencing by Sebastopol street artist Ronald. While we regret having to remove the artwork for safety reasons, we've displayed photos of the work on our website below.

November 2017

Our team has been busy finalizing interior layouts and programing in the hotel, wellnesss, and restaurant buildings. We've been fine tuning the design of our courtyard and roof-deck areas, and updating our landscape program to include more plantings that require less watering and more native species. We've also been working closely with the City to ensure our ultimate submission for a building permit meets all requirements upon submission. With the aid of consultants, we are crafting our sustainability program. Our ultimate goal is LEED Gold or Platinum certification. We are also exploring ideas for interim uses of our lot. If you have any ideas, please contact us!

January 2016

Review notes from the second community workshop held January, 2016.

Jan 2016 Notes

September 2015

Review notes from the first community workshop held September, 2015.

Sept 2015 Notes