Where the Hearst Building sits
The Hearst Building occupies the corner of Third and Market streets at 5 Third Street in San Francisco. The address covers three internally connected commercial buildings: the 13-story Hearst Building, 17-29 Third Street and the Stevenson Street annex. The complex holds 121,470 square feet and stands as office space today.
Straight-line distances come from OpenStreetMap coordinates and a local haversine. Montgomery Street station sits 937 feet from the door (0.18 miles), Union Square 1,315 feet (0.25 miles), the George R. Moscone Convention Center 1,317 feet (0.25 miles) and Powell Street station 1,466 feet (0.28 miles). A coach that drops at Third and Market reaches all four on foot.
The cluster the corner already sits inside
An OpenStreetMap hotel query returns 30 named hotels inside 1,700 feet of the address. The eight closest are Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown SoMa at 50 Third Street, 330 feet; Palace Hotel at 2 New Montgomery Street, 354 feet; Four Seasons at 757 Market Street, 580 feet; The St. Regis San Francisco at 125 Third Street, 693 feet; San Francisco Marriott Marquis at 780 Mission Street, 864 feet; W San Francisco at 181 Third Street, 1,034 feet; Taj Campton Place Hotel at 340 Stockton Street, 1,205 feet; and Grand Hyatt San Francisco at 345 Stockton Street, 1,366 feet. Fifteen named hotels sit inside 1,400 feet.
Three downtown hotel projects sit in the pipeline. A 211-room hotel at 570 Market Street holds approvals, 1,085 feet from the corner. A 401-room hotel tower at 555 Howard Street holds revised approvals from September 2020 and an extension request, 1,770 feet away, and its developer has put the project on hold. A five-star hotel proposed inside an office-and-hotel tower at 530 Sansome Street sits 2,942 feet away.
The Examiner's building, 1898 to 1938
William Randolph Hearst commissioned the main tower in 1898 as the San Francisco Examiner Building. It stood seven stories in Mission Revival style, designed by A.C. Schweinfurth. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed it. Kirby, Petit and Green rebuilt it on the same site as a twelve-story steel frame, with a granite base, a marble podium and a terra cotta shaft.
Hearst's architect Julia Morgan revised the exterior in 1938. She added terracotta decoration with a monogrammed shield over the main entrance, remodelled the interior lobby and installed a taller cornice. Auberge Resorts Collection's April 2021 release describes the building as Spanish Revival with Tennessee Pink marble on the lower floors, and names the Examiner as its occupant until the 1960s.
The interior scope the approval covers
The conversion turns the office complex into 170 hotel rooms, 5,920 square feet of office and 11,390 square feet of retail, with 21 bicycle spaces. Street-facing retail walls are rebuilt with full-height windows. San Francisco YIMBY recorded that programme in March 2023, with Forge as project architect and Page & Turnbull and Knapp Architects jointly on historic preservation.
The incentive agreement the city published in February 2026 restates the approved scope: up to 170 hotel rooms, restaurant and bar spaces, office, retail, seismic and structural upgrades, and restoration of historical building features.
What the room count and the dates rest on
Two counts are published. The February 2026 incentive agreement and the 2023 planning approval both carry up to 170 rooms. Auberge Resorts Collection's April 2021 release carries 150 rooms with 14 suites, an Auberge Spa, a grand lobby, social spaces, a destination restaurant and a rooftop bar, designed by Roman and Williams. Ask the developer which count the sales inventory will use.
The brand sits on that 2021 release. The February 2026 city record names no operator. Ask for the signed operator agreement and a sales contact before a rate enters a package.
The entitlement dates are separate. The city first approved the project in mid-April 2019, and the developer sought a three-year extension to mid-April 2026. Construction runs about 20 months once work starts, and the record carries no start date.
A tour operator can hold this property off a 2026-27 winter programme and still sell Third and Market. Build the winter package on the street as it stands and add the hotel line when the conversion opens.
The record the incentive rests on
The San Francisco Business Times reported on 5 February 2026 that the city offered a $40 million tax break for the conversion. The agreement text carries the terms: incentive payments equal to the actual General Fund transient occupancy tax revenue the new hotel generates, up to $40 million in net present value, for up to 20 years.
48 Hills published the agreement text on 1 February 2026. The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee sent the measure forward without recommendation on Wednesday 4 February 2026, and 48 Hills reported the outcome the following day.
JMA Ventures, through its affiliate Bespoke Hospitality, LLC, holds a long-term lease to develop and operate the property. Request the construction start, the building permit, the general contractor, the construction lender, the signed operator agreement and a firm opening date from the developer before a winter departure goes on sale.