Carefully restored Sausalito lodge opens

<p>SAUSALITO – The Cavallo Point Lodge that graces 350 acres overlooking the Golden Gate is what you might call the “triple-threat” of the hotel industry.</p><p>It’s super green, uniquely historical and includes every modern amenity from a Michelin-star rated restaurant to a spa and almost 30,000 square feet of meeting space. Rooms were completely booked just a month after opening Aug. 1 and it is on track to garner its LEED-gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.</p><p>“When we started this project we were not interested in just doing another business conference center. We wanted something as small as possible to preserve as much of the historical character of the property as possible and create something really unique,” said Ted Lieser, project manager for Equity Community Builders, one of the hotel’s three developers.</p><p>Constructed in the early 1900s and in use by the military until the early ‘90s, the site was acquired by the National Park Service in 2001. The agency then completed an environmental study to decide the best use for the historical buildings, ultimately soliciting requests for a hotel proposal.</p><p>In 2002, Equity was chosen to take on the project, along with Passport Resorts and Ajax Capital, which formed the Fort Baker Retreat Group. With the deal, the group commenced on the six-year journey to transform the 35-acre, 24-building property on the southern edge of Sausalito into an upscale resort and environmental mecca.</p><p>Almost 100 percent of the external integrity of the buildings was preserved during construction as were about 75 percent of the interiors. The hotel’s 142 rooms are about evenly split between historical buildings and the site’s 14 new buildings, which are organized in “villages” dispersed throughout the property.</p><p>Rates run between $250 and $750 a night for one bedrooms, two-bedroom suites and single-family buildings. The site includes a former chapel now used as a multi-use facility, the Healing Arts Center & Spa and the Murray Circle restaurant and Farley Bar.</p><p>The property incorporates classes and workshops including a culinary academy, and it is encircled with walking and biking trails. As part of the agreement with park services, its meeting spaces named for endangered species will host monthly eco-minded conferences run by the newly-created Institute at Golden Gate.</p><p>The Green Machine</p><p>If sustainable building had a model home, this might be it.</p><p>Just about everything at the Cavallo Point Lodge was strategically green crafted, from the materials used in the building to disposal during construction. Home to the severely endangered blue butterfly, a corner of the property is blocked for their habitat and about 65 percent of the acreage was left as open spaces.</p><p>More than 58,000 native plants farmed from the Fort Baker watershed and grown from seeds decorate the plot along with drought resistant turf fed by drip water systems. Fertilizers and pesticides are banned from the premises and organic and local products are used in the kitchen, bathrooms and cleaning faculties.</p><p>Six filtration zones clean rain water as it percolates into the ground, protecting the ocean and preventing erosion. Tankless water heaters and special window tinting save energy and a reclamation water system in the laundry rooms saves an average 65 percent of water compared with traditional hotels.</p><p>Thin, almost invisible solar film lines the metal roofs of 12 buildings and provides all of their electrical needs.</p><p>More than 20 million pounds of nylon was recycled for the hotel’s carpets, and light fixtures are made from recycled tripods and plumbing parts. Recycled jeans make eco-friendly wall insulation and planners left 95 percent of rooms without air conditioning.</p><p>Recycled wood was used for flooring and bathrooms include large, refillable shampoo bottles and only cloth towels. All paper used is recycled and printed with soy-based ink.</p><p>For other descriptions of green amenities visit www.cavallopoint.com.</p>