By Laura Kiniry
On an unseasonably warm summer evening in San Francisco’s Union Square, dozens of BATW members gathered to celebrate the season at the legendary Westin St. Francis Hotel, which marked its 120 year anniversary in 2024. The event took place on one of the hotel’s two new open-air terraces, and attendees included Maria Lenhart, author of the upcoming Lost Treasures of San Francisco, MJ Pramik, whose Travels on the Edge: One Woman’s Journeys on a Runaway Planet was published in July 2023, and PR maven Marcy Clark.
Plates of appetizers like bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms made the rounds as guests mingled, and tables of charcuterie and cheese, crisp seasonal vegetables and various dips, and desserts like blood orange panna cotta and chocolate mousse kept everyone well-fed. On the west side of the terrace, a “no host” bar provided the drinks.
Once the terrace was buzzing, BATW President Amy Sherman welcomed the crowd and introduced the evening’s series of speakers. There was Kelly Chamberlin, president and founder of Chamberlin Public Relations, who represents The Westin St. Francis Hotel, and Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of Union Square Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to creating a high-quality neighborhood experience for both visitors and San Francisco residents alike. “I recognize so many of you from the last time we got together,” said Rodriguez. “I think it was at a different hotel down the street, and just so many changes in one year. The momentum is incredible.”
Rodriguez addressed the positive direction that Union Square has been going in since the Covid shutdown. “It is my goal that in the next five years Union Square will be the safest place in the state,” she said. “Crime actually has reduced about 49 percent…We’re starting to see the grass grow again.” She also stressed that retail is not dead. “We’re about to see four stories of Zara,” a fast-fashion retail store, “just a block away from here.”
One of the neighborhood makeovers that most excites Rodriguez is the Powell Street Corridor Project. “Three blocks from the cable car turnaround up to Geary St. are getting a facelift,” she said. “It’s a whole new look.” One that includes new lighting and a giant LED programmable chandelier over the cable car turnaround. Rodriguez then gave props to Mayor Daniel Lurie for helping to fasttrack the project and get it the green light. “We hope that the ribbon cutting occurs before the holidays, 2027.”
Rodriguez also gave a shout-out to Biederman Redevelopment Ventures (BRV), a placemaking consulting firm that in 2024 received a one-million-dollar grant from the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development to breathe life back into Union Square’s historic plaza. So far this has included events like zumba, movie nights, live music and even ping pong.
Next to speak was Dean Hall of the San Francisco Police Department, a lieutenant with 27 years in the department “who’s just a beat cop at heart.” Hall focused on the importance of neighborhood safety, and mentioned that visitors can often see him driving his Polaris side-by-side “dune buggy” around the neighborhood. In September 2023, Dune participated in the hotel’s “Over the Edge” event, rappelling down the building to raise funds and awareness for The Aneurysm and AVM Foundation (TAAF).
Then came Elaine Clancy, responsible for the sales, marketing, and public relation efforts of this iconic 1,187 guestroom hotel. After an extensive renovation of its historic lobby, “The [hotel’s] Powell Street doors should be open again very soon,” she said, “and we have a brand new celebrity chef restaurant coming with two bars.” Clancy also pointed out that the hotel’s two new open-air terraces can do a flow reception for about 250 people throughout the whole space, or (in the case of this evening) be used separately. “It’s the only outdoor private event space overlooking Union Square,” says Clancy, with stellar views of both Union Square and the iconic cable cars below.
Additional hotel upgrades that Clancy mentioned include a new ground-floor museum displaying artifacts and memorabilia from the property’s extensive history, an added club lounge in the lobby for Marriott Bonvoy members and a new retailer, Nintendo, in the hotel’s corner space. “They’ve had a lot of excitement and a lot of buzz,” says Clancy, “from kids to elders.” She then offered to show off a few of the upgraded suites on the 31st floor for anyone interested.
Once the speakers wrapped the evening’s mingling, snacking and imbibing continued, with one main takeaway: there are a lot of positive things happening in Union Square, and in all of San Francisco, at the moment.