Teatro Zinzanni Hotel Project
Norm Langill
Norm Langill has showbusiness in his blood – and he likes fine restaurants. Those twin passions led to Teatro ZinZanni, a big tent dinner theater in the Lower Queen Anne District of Seattle that one reviewer described as “Moulin Rouge meets Cirque du Soleil.”
Regardless of the characterization, the concept – cabaret, circus acts, spectacular food and wine – met with the unalloyed approval of Seattle residents. ZinZanni opened in October 1998, and by the end of the following year it was playing to sold out houses nightly. The theater closed in Seattle in December 1999, and moved to San Francisco, where it played until 2011. ZinZanni reopened venues in Washington State, but Langill always wanted to return to San Francisco – a difficult proposition, he acknowledged, given the extensive approval process required for any enterprise operating in the City by the Bay.
“Two people were instrumental in getting us to San Francisco in 2000,” recalls Langill, “and they were Mayor Willie Brown and Darius Anderson. Willie found us a venue on Pier 39, and Darius got us the permits.”
ZinZanni’s decade-long run at Pier 39 was highly successful, but Langill was forced to vacate due to San Francisco’s preparations for the America’s Cup.
“We always wanted to come back,” Langill says. “We always planned to come back. But this was San Francisco – nothing involving real estate or business is easy here. At a certain point, we received tentative approval from Mayor Ed Lee and the county supervisors to operate at a parking lot at Broadway and Embarcadero. It’s a wonderful site. It’s the location of San Francisco’s first pier, which was built in 1848, and its Barbary Coast connection is perfect for our brand.”
But if the mayor and supervisors had one idea, the Port of San Francisco had another: a 10-year lease for the property, which was far too short for Langill’s business plan and vision.
“Our goal was to integrate with San Francisco, to become part of this city’s culture and history,” says Langill. “That would’ve been impossible with such a short lease. So I called Darius and said ‘Help!’”
Langill and Anderson discussed options for the property that would burnish San Francisco’s cultural and business value, leading – they hoped – to a longer and more equitable lease. The duo ultimately decided on a boutique hotel development that would include Teatro ZinZanni as a permanent adjunct.
“That was in 2013, and Darius put everything he had behind the idea,” says Langill. “He formed a group of investors, made sure ZinZanni was a central part of the process, and we just took off from there.”
Langill emphasizes that the road to a permanent San Francisco home for Teatro ZinZanni was anything but smooth.
“Darius engaged and ultimately overcame every hindrance we encountered,” Langill says. “He just kept moving forward. It’s funny – the power structure in every city is different. We also have a venue in Chicago, and there it’s all about the aldermen – they’re the ones you have to deal with. In Seattle, it’s local interest groups, such as neighborhood associations and environmental organizations. But in San Francisco, it’s all about individuals, and really, that’s the hardest situation to negotiate. First, you have to know all the people who can make things happen. And second, you have to have enough influence with them so things do happen. Darius came through on both counts.”
After more than seven years of proposals and counterproposals, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors signed off on a 50-year lease that authorizes a 192-room boutique hotel and a secure venue for Teatro ZinZanni.
“The lease is signed, the final permitting has been cleared, and we anticipate starting construction next year,” says Langill. “I’ve been working on this for more than a decade, and I have to hand it to Darius – he got it done. Having him in our corner made all the difference. I’m really looking forward to standing beside him next year at the groundbreaking and sticking that shovel in the dirt.”
