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Commercial Union Assurance Building

Emporis template using building IDFinancial District, San FranciscoOffice buildings completed in 1921Skyscraper office buildings in San Francisco
Commercial Union Assurance Building
Commercial Union Assurance Building

The Commercial Union Assurance Building is a 94 m (308 ft), 16-story office building located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. The building was completed in 1921 and is the same height of the San Francisco City Hall. The much taller 555 California Street is to the west of this Renaissance Revival styled building.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Commercial Union Assurance Building (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Commercial Union Assurance Building
Montgomery Street, San Francisco

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N 37.792111 ° E -122.403 °
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Commercial Union Assurance Building

Montgomery Street 315
90104 San Francisco
California, United States
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Commercial Union Assurance Building
Commercial Union Assurance Building
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Russ Building
Russ Building

The Russ Building is a Neo-Gothic office tower located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California. It was designed by architect George W. Kelham, who was responsible for many of San Francisco's other prominent high-rise buildings in the 1920s. The 133-metre (436 ft) building was completed in 1927 and had 32 floors as well as the city's first indoor parking garage. It was the tallest building in San Francisco from 1927 to 1964 and one of the most prominent, along with its 133-metre (436 ft) "twin", the PacBell Building to the south.Upon completion, the building was iconic enough that Architect and Engineer wrote, “In nearly every large city there is one building that because of its size, beauty of architectural design and character of its use and occupancy, has come to typify the city itself ... Today the Russ Building takes this place in San Francisco. By its size and location and by the character of its tenants the building becomes indeed—'The Center of Western Progress'.”However, Manhattanization from 1960 to 1990 has shrouded the tower in a shell of skyscrapers, removing the tower's prominence. The San Francisco Chronicle's architecture critic John King described the Russ Building as "the embodiment of Jazz Age romance, a full block of ornate Gothic-flavored masonry that ascends in jagged stages from Montgomery Street with a leap and then a scramble to a central crown". The tower is a California Historical Landmark.Until the emergence of Sand Hill Road in the 1980s, many of the largest venture capital firms held offices in the Russ Building.

Omni San Francisco Hotel
Omni San Francisco Hotel

The Omni San Francisco Hotel, formerly the Financial Center Building, located at the corner of Montgomery and California Streets San Francisco Financial District, dates from 1927, when it was built as a bank. The building was built on the site of the Parrott Building, a three-story building erected in 1851 by early San Francisco settler John Parott. The building was demolished in 1926 to make room for construction of the current high-rise tower. The demolition prompted a treasure hunt due to rumors that early settlers had buried Mexican doubloons, gold nuggets, jewels, and property deeds on the property.A new 15-story, steel-frame building was built on the site with the construction completed in January 1927. The new building, known as the Financial Center Building, was designed by architect Frederick H. Meyer and Albin R. Johnson. The building included Florentine Renaissance and Richardsonian Romanesque design elements. The facade featured rusticated cast stone on the first five floors, a red-brick facade and higher floors, and a corbelled cast-stone cornice arcade on the top floor.In 1956, the building's owner (First Western Bank & Trust) substantially remodeled and "modernized" the exterior base of the building, interior entrance and lobby. The cast stone on the exterior of the lower floors was removed and replaced with polished granite cladding. The building's original arched windows were also replaced with rectangular storefront windows. Marble wainscotting, door trim, and bronze elevator doors were also removed.By 1997, the building had been vacant for several years when it was acquired by Omni Hotels. Omni's plans to convert the building to a hotel were delayed for several years. In 2001 and 2002, the building was renovated at a reported cost of $125 million. The renovation was designed by Patri Merker Architects. Elements of the 1956 modernization were reversed to restore the building's original design. Original 1926 drawings were used to restore the stone facade and other exterior design elements. The property's square footage was also substantially increased by raising the roof and addition of an 80,000-square-foot structure at the rear.The building has been given an "A" rating by the City of San Francisco indicating that it is of "highest importance" in evaluating historic buildings. The hotel is a member of the Historic Hotels of America.