Boutique hotel in downtown Healdsburg up for approval Tuesday

Sometime early next year, construction could begin on a boutique hotel in downtown Healdsburg, brought to the city by the same people who built the Healdsburg Hotel and the h2 Hotel.

The Planning Commission on Tuesday evening is set to consider approval for the 39-room, four-story hotel, dubbed H3 Guesthouse, proposed on a gravel parking lot south of the historic Plaza.

The $16 million hotel project has not generated controversy like the last hotel proposal that was widely panned, then dropped - a five-story, 75-room hotel by the Kessler group seen as out-of-scale and threatening to Healdsburg’s small town ambiance.

That defunct 2013 proposal briefly spurred talk of a possible measure to limit the size of hotels in town, but the idea was shelved.

Despite getting the word out about Tuesday’s 6 p.m. hearing “strangely enough we haven’t heard anything from the public,” said Healdsburg Project Planner Jesse Brown.

Potential controversy may have been diffused not only by the smaller size of the hotel, but the fact the developers are proposing more parking spaces than required, and also did early outreach to the public to explain details of their plans.

The number of rooms was also winnowed down from the originally proposed 43 units.

“I think we were sensitive to the community feedback we received, and we put a lot of parking in it, and worked closely with the city to satisfy their requirements,” said Circe Sher, a principal in the partnership behind the hotel.

Parking can be a sensitive issue in downtown Healdsburg, especially on weekends or for special events when visitors flock to the chic food and wine destination. But plans call for 50 parking spaces on the ground floor of the new hotel, more than required for a project of its size. Most of the parking will be a lift system where vehicles are stacked three high and two deep.

The hotel, at 227 Healdsburg Ave., would be a sister property to the nearby h2 Hotel and the Hotel Healdsburg developed by the Sher family and Paolo Petrone, who also manages three hotels in Marin County.

“We’re part of the fabric of the community here,” said Sher, noting the hotels’ employment of local residents and support of local nonprofit groups.

The H3 Guesthouse site, a parking lot for close to 50 years, is on the west side of Healdsburg Avenue, sandwiched between a four-story mixed use building to the north, and an antique mall immediately to the south.

Brown, the city planner, said the hotels’ contemporary design creates a visually interesting structure with redwood slats and railings, clear glazing and corten steel. The earth tone colors and materials are compatible with the area and respectful of the city’s character, he said.

Plans call for a 1,500-square-foot meeting room that can accommodate breakfast service, but no restaurant. There also would be a swimming pool and an indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge.

The developers are planning to build a footbridge over Foss Creek at the back of the hotel for a small, private creekside park for hotel guests.

Russian Riverkeeper, an environmental group that helps care for creeks and waterways, supports approval of the hotel, in particular the plan to capture all on-site stormwater and route it to a bioswale. The group also approves of plans to plant native riparian plants and improve wildlife habitat along the creek.

Sher said H3 is intended to cater in part to families. The park with some art benches and tree swings will provide a place for children and relaxation.

The hotel is also intended to accommodate bicycle tourist groups

The price of a room, with rates averaging in the “mid $200s,” is projected to be lower than h2 and the Hotel Healdsburg. It might be as high as $299 in the high season, or as low as $165 per room in the off-season, Sher said.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @clarkmas.