TCA Architects just signed a long-term lease for expanded space at 1111 Broadway, a minute from 12th Street BART. CEO Thom Cox, hospitality practice leader Paul Adamson and principal Jonathan Cohen braved the big storm last Thursday to host their holiday party at their offices (pictured here and below). Thom is a big believer in Oakland and opened the firm’s first office in the city a year and a half ago. They currently are working on 2,400 new residences in 12 cities in the Bay Area. Thom let us in one hot project TCA's designing for Mill Creek Residential in S.F.: Modera Rincon Hill, 179 units expected to break ground in early 2016.

Paul tells us the hotel market needs to step it up. He says S.F. has an abundance of hotels with reasonable services at sometimes reasonable rates, but there’s a paucity of interesting places to stay that reflect and exploit the city’s character, climate and culture. Kimpton and Joie de Vivre began the boutique trend in S.F., but he says its style of whimsical eclecticism is now "passe." The new travelers are demanding regional authenticity, and several new brands (some being sub-flags of major hoteliers) are meeting this demand elsewhere in the country.

Andaz by Hyatt, Hotel Indigo by IHG as well as smaller hoteliers including ACME in Chicago (pictured), are quickly advancing the boutique typology to appeal to the new crop of business travelers. The Good Hotel has the right idea, but it’s too down market, Paul tells us. Commune, which purchased Joie de Vivre, has Thompson and Tommie, and one of these might find a place in town. CitizenM is also missing in the Bay Area. Other brands we may expect to make a place in S.F. will be the establishment hotels' small flags that will land on Mid-Market and perhaps some new hotels with a genuinely authentic vibe that may pioneer as-yet-underserved locales, such as the Mission, Dogpatch and Bernal, says Paul.