Jukebox
San Francisco’s Marriott Marquis, opened on October 17, 1989, the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which was a biggie at 6.9.
Tommy’s Joynt New Neighbor
It’s one of those places every local knows. I've driven by it 1000 times, but never stopped in.
Who Knew?
I have walked by 345 California hundreds of times and never knew that there was a hotel inside - 155 rooms on floors 38 – 48.
Reborn
San Francisco's first sky scraper has survived earthquakes, fire, and more
A Touch of Nostalgia
There is something about the Art Deco building at 140 New Montgomery Street that warms the heart, at least my heart.
Innocence Lost
Remember when we could walk into an office building and ride an elevator to any floor without going through security first? Apparently, we lost our innocence back in July of 1993
Visionaries
Many moons ago, Mission Bay (303 acres) was a salt marsh/lagoon. In the mid-1800s, it became a place to dump refuse from building projects and later from the 1906 earthquake. Then, it became an industrial area that included shipbuilding, canneries, warehouses, etc. In the 1990s, it was a veritable wasteland owned by Southern Pacific Railway (who
Oops!
Back in 2002, Millennium Partners proposed the development of Millennium Tower, a new condominium complex at 301 Mission, essentially a 5-Star hotel without a hotel. This was soon after Millennium Partners launched its Four Seasons Hotel (the first combination hotel/condominium property in San Francisco at 757 Market Street). Four Seasons condominiums sold well after overcoming
Triple Nickel
555 California Street (“Triple Nickel”), formerly known as the Bank of America Center, was completed in 1969. At that time, it was the tallest building in the U.S. west of the Mississippi. The bank was originally the Bank of Italy, founded in a converted saloon by A. P. Giannini in 1904. Having made several investments in the smaller Bank of America,
My Daughter, the Engineer
Once upon a time, there was an iconic clock tower that guarded the San Francisco side of the Bay Bridge. It was erected in 1940 and designed by Louis P. Hobart, who also designed Grace Cathedral, the California Academy of Sciences, and Macy’s on Union Square, as well as many other structures. This structure initially displayed