Plans calling for a new hotel and electronic billboard over Highway 101 in Millbrae received mixed reviews and unenthusiastic approvals from officials who shared concerns regarding the building’s design and the sign’s necessity.
The Millbrae Planning Commission unanimously approved plans for the Moxy Hotel, which is proposed to become the city’s third travel destination on the lot sharing the Aloft Hotel and Hilton Hotel at the Millbrae Avenue exit.
The decision paves the way for construction of seven-story hotel with 209 rooms and the replacement of the existing standard Aloft Hotel sign at the Millbrae Avenue exit from Highway 101 with a new, digital billboard.
Commissioners unenthusiastically blessed the plans though, with some sharing reservations regarding the hotel’s features and others claiming a digital billboard in such close proximity to another just hundreds of feet away was unnecessary.
“I’m OK to vote for it but I do have reservations and I’m not thrilled,” said Vice Chair Jean Joh during the meeting Monday, Oct. 19.
Joh said she was largely comfortable with the hotel design which featured revisions since the Millbrae City Council instructed the builder to tone down some of the more ambitious aesthetic features last month.
Instead, her concerns were with plans to build the electronic billboard advertising the hotel in such close proximity to another similar sign which the city operates several hundred feet to the south along the highway corridor.
“It is a little bit much for me,” said Joh, regarding the presence of another sign which she suggested could be distracting and add to the visual clutter of the area.
Chair Catherine Quigg shared a similar perspective, with a general comfort for the hotel design but opposition for the new billboard.
“I’m OK with everything here except the electronic sign,” she said.
The hotel’s development team defended the need for the sign, claiming the ad income will be essential to help the reeling industry weather the pandemic and help stabilize the company’s financial footing.
“This would be a pretty critical piece of additional revenue both for the city and for us in the near term that would help bridge our operations here and support our considerable amount of staff on site,” said Kevin Tazalla, with Starwood Capital Group, which also operates the Hilton and Aloft hotels.
“So I understand the concerns but I do want to iterate how important it is to the application as a whole, both as a revenue resource and as advertising.”
Furthering his point regarding the economic benefit for Millbrae, Tazalla said he anticipates ads will generate in the ballpark of $100,000 annually for the city. Additionally, the city will be granted a portion of the billboard’s display space to promote community and civic events.
Recognizing the sign’s importance to the proposal, as well as the potential for the Millbrae City Council to overrule any dissent from commissioners, Joh and Quigg ultimately agreed to support the project — so long as their reservations were acknowledged.
Sign concerns were not the only reservations raised during the meeting, which also featured Commissioner Anders Fung calling into question the hotel design — specifically the roof deck which he felt should be expanded to be more attractive for guests.
With a limited allowable capacity on the roof deck, Fung encouraged designers to reconfigure the space to make room for a bar and dining area which he thought would be a popular nightlife amenity for the younger demographic to which the hotel brand caters.
“This could be a missed opportunity, not only for your hotel but also our city in terms of revenue,” he said.
Designers defended the decision though, claiming much of the roof space was reserved to support the hotels’ essential operational features. Additionally, they said there is a lounge space in the lawn area between the hotels which guests could use, and a restaurant at the adjacent Hilton which would be available to those staying at the Moxy.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Maureen Davis defended the Moxy plans and attempted to dissuade her colleague from redesigning the hotel.
“We shouldn’t be telling them how to run their business,” she said.
Additionally, Davis said she was comfortable with the sign proposal and appreciated the company’s continued interest in constructing a new hotel during a time when COVID-19 has largely devastated the travel industry.
“I think it is fabulous. I would love to have 200-plus more hotel rooms in town and I’m glad you are still willing to build it,” she said.
To that end, Tazalla said he is hopeful health conditions will improve and that the company will be able to start construction in short order.
“I’m an optimist,” he said. “I hope this is all going to turn around and we are going to build it quickly.”
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