While the SFMOMA has been giddily releasing plans about the $500 million expansion project, a potentially party-ruining battle has been brewing with an unhappy neighbor: The W Hotel.
As The Huffington Post reported earlier, the hotel spoke out against the museum when the Planning Commission reviewed the expansion's environmental impact report, but the commission waved the complaint aside. And now the hotel is playing hardball.
According to SFGate, the hotel filed an appeal of the environmental impact report, claiming that the museum failed to mention how the plan will affect the flow of traffic in the area.
The appeal claims that the hotel will be adversely affected by "the project's closure of the mid-block area that the W Hotel relies upon for loading/unloading and valet activities," according to SFGate. "These activities will be moved onto Third Street, Howard and New Montgomery, exacerbating an already congested area."
Anyone familiar with the unbelievable traffic headache that is the Third Street/Howard Street/New Montgomery block can probably understand the W's gripe. (Have you tried to make a left on Howard lately?) But with unrelenting support of the SFMOMA expansion from both the public and the City, the hotel is painted as a bit of a poor sport in the situation.
"They're going to look out and see a great museum," said Snohetta's Craig Dykers to SFGate. "When you live in a city, these things happen. And that's what makes a city great."
The announcement of the appeal came just days after Snohetta, the firm designing the expansion, released a fresh batch of renderings, a video and details about the plans for the new interior.
Check out plans for SFMOMA's expansion in the video and slideshow below:
