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Rising construction prices and economic realities have forced a redesign of the planned upgrade to Berkeley’s landmark Shattuck Hotel, developer Roy Nee said Monday. 

Nee’s plans to renovate the hotel and bring it under the Westin label have been hailed by city officials, who are eager to see a highly respected hotel brand in the city center. 

His initial renovation plans were embraced by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, but the increase in construction costs and the dictates of Berkeley’s economy have forced him to find a new architect and a financial partner, Nee said. 

“We fundamentally redesigned different areas of the project,” said Nee. 

The changes were necessary because the plans by Elida Doldan Schujuman of Mill Valley proved uneconomical when Nee looked more closely at his potential clientele, he said. Nee abandoned her design and sought out JG Johnson Architects of Denver, Colo., one of the nation’s leading hotel design firms and the architects of recent major resort projects in Santa Barbara, Aspen, Colo., and San Diego. 

“The problem is that the Berkeley area has its pricing limits, which are lower than for areas that are tourism destinations,” he said. “The main demand driver is the University of California, which has set per diems, and they’re what control the economics.” 

The new firm is redesigning the mass of the structure along Allston Way west of Shattuck Avenue, transforming the proposed two-floor connector between the main hotel building and the U.S. Postal Annex into a five-story structure, while reducing the planned vertical extension of the postal annex from four floors to three—although a fourth floor remains an option, Nee said Monday. 

“This shifts the volume of the building and will make the project more economical,” he said, adding, “It will still be a Westin hotel.” 

The revised plans will have to be resubmitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which has purview over the designs because the building is a designed Berkeley landmark. 

“I hope that delays in the city approval process haven’t spoiled the chances to restore the downtown’s most prominent landmark,” said Leslie Emmington, an LPC member. 

City Planning Director Dan Marks said the hotel restoration “is a very high priority for the city. It’s a very exciting project and a potential revenue source for the city. It’s a wonderful old hotel we’d like to see done.” 

Marks confirmed that the new design will have to go back to the LPC, “but I don’t see any problems as long as they continue with their proposal to enhance and restore the hotel.” 

While a new design will add some time to the approval process, “we were finished with that in any case. It’s not like we’ll be starting over from scratch,” Marks said. 

The Shattuck Hotel opened on Dec. 15, 1910, as a square structure at the corner of Shattuck and Allston. It proved so successful that an annex was added, filling out the rest of the block along Shattuck to Kittredge Street, making it the longest structure in Northern California at the time. 

The solid, fireproof construction was designed with the 1906 earthquake in mind and proved a great attraction. The structure was declared a city landmark on May 16, 1983. 

Nee said the redesign process has been under way for about a month. 

The revised plans will maintain the hotel’s flavor and feel, he said, while giving the project a decent chance of economic success.ô