Owner Michael Shvo and his partners have hired world-renowned architect Norman Foster to redesign the iconic tower’s interiors and plan to invest $250 million to renovate the 1972 building and expand its Redwood Park. The owners also plan to roughly double the size of neighboring 545 Sansome St. and add a new facade to create a modern office building at the cost of around $150 million.

The plans amount to not only the largest investment in downtown San Francisco since the pandemic began, but one of the largest building redesigns in the city’s history — and to one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks.

“We want to make this place a focal center of downtown, and make sure people come here not only to work,” said Shvo. “It will not only transform the interior of the building but the landscape and the exterior and bring life to the entire site.”

Tourists and residents often take pictures of the 853-foot Pyramid from afar, but the site itself is sleepy, particularly since the pandemic began. “When you come to the site, there’s not much to do there,” Shvo said. “We want to change that.”

A rendering of the new Mark Twain Street with cherry blossom trees and new shops.

Foster + Partners

Mark Twain Street, now a barren alley connected to Redwood Park, would get rows of cherry blossom trees and new shops under the plan. Open space would be expanded around the block. On the ground floor of the Pyramid, Shvo hopes to bring into multiple restaurants, a bookstore and flower shop — all open to the public.

The renovations are expected to take a year to complete. The city has approved a temporary construction barricade, and work is scheduled to begin this week. The expansion of 545 Sansome St. — which is being rebranded 3 Transamerica — to 100,000 square feet of office space would follow and require additional city approvals.

Shvo sees the pandemic as a temporary era, and that people’s reluctance to leave the house can be overcome by making compelling destinations. And he’s bullish on the future of downtown.

“I believe, long-term, San Francisco is one of the most important cities for business in the United States,” Shvo said. “I don’t believe everyone is moving out and I don’t believe everyone is working from home.”

Shvo has partnered with luxury hotel and condo companies like Mandarin Oriental and Four Seasons on other projects, and he’s taking a similar hospitality approach to the workplace.

“I strongly believe the office experience should be at the same level as luxury residential and hospitality,” Shvo said. “In the last two years, we’ve made our homes into our offices, now it’s time to make our offices feel like our homes.”

A rendering of the 48th floor tenants bar and lounge at the Transamerica Pyramid.

Foster + Partners

A vacant 48th floor penthouse space would be turned into a bar and lounge exclusively for office tenants at the cost of $201,836, according to a building permit filed this month that is awaiting city approval. Upper floors would include conference rooms, a spa and gym. Office tenants would be able to order food and beverages to their desks.

Separately, New York’s high-end Core club has leased three bottom floors in the Pyramid to build a luxury, members-only facility with three restaurants and three bars.

Shvo said he ran a design competition with world-renowned architects before selecting Foster, who designed Apple Park, the Bay Area’s most valuable property, and London’s Gherkin Building.

Foster has a history of reimagining prominent historic buildings, including designing a new glass dome atop the Reichstag, Germany’s lower house of parliament. He also designed the Manhattan headquarters of Hearst, owner of The Chronicle, a glassy diagonal grid constructed in 2003 atop a six-story structure built in 1927.

The architect has been expanding his work in San Francisco, designing a 1,066-foot tower proposed on the site of the former PG&E garage that would exceed the height of the Pyramid. Another super-tall tower, Oceanwide Center, is stalled after its Chinese owner’s financial turmoil.

The Pyramid design approach seeks to enhance and reveal the tower’s historic elements. For instance, the current lobby ceiling blocks the building’s lattice-like structure, which Shvo wants to restore.

A rendering of the renovated lobby.

Foster + Partners

Shvo and his partners are only the second owners of the tower, after buying it in 2020 for $650 million from Transamerica Corp.’s parent, Aegon. The group, which includes Germany’s biggest pension fund, Bayerische Versorgungskammer, beat out over 40 other bidders.

“They thought we would be the best steward of their brand,” he said of Aegon.

Aegon had previously proposed redevelopment of 545 Sansome St. but hadn’t received approval. Shvo’s plans will result in the relocation of 37-year-old Vietnamese restaurant Sai’s from the site. The developer is currently assisting the restaurant in finding a space nearby.

Shvo said the prospect of renovations has already paid off, with multiple leases over $100 per square foot annually, some of the highest in the country. Shvo declined to identify the tenants.

“We’re really seeing tenants are willing to pay an almost unlimited premium for quality product,” Shvo said. “Tenants today want top-of-the-line product. They want to be in the best buildings.”

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf

The post San Francisco’s Transamerica Pyramid is getting the most important redesign in its 50-year historical past appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

South San Francisco officials are considering a redesign of the city’s downtown Civic Center, including a new City Hall annex building to replace the existing aging structure.

The City Council discussed the proposal this week, indicating support for the undertaking that would address safety issues and lack of space in current facilities. The annex building at 315 Maple Ave. comprises roughly 8,800 square feet and was built in 1949, originally as a police station.

“We are suffering from some major life-safety and function issues within the building,” said Director of Capital Projects Jacob Gilchrist. “The idea here with the project would basically be to begin again.”

Gilchrist said a new building could be two or three stories and three times the size of the existing structure. The two other buildings on the block, the city’s historic City Hall and Library, would be retained. A redesign could also include a revamp of the park area on Maple Avenue.

Among key concerns with existing facilities are Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issues with connections between the three buildings and parking lot. The block is on a hill and there are several staircases. Gilchrist also said the annex building has “significant water infiltration problems,” and “all of the mechanical systems are in poor condition.”

He said because the building was designed as a bunker with 15-inch-thick concrete walls, modernizing or making repairs was nearly impossible.

“As you start to pierce the structure the walls just start to crumble,” he said, adding that a building inspector had told him “the best thing to do with it is just blow it up and start over.”

A rough timeline proposal indicated a project completion date of 2027, with an estimated cost of $30 million to $40 million. Gilchrist said the next big steps will be hiring design staff and collecting historical documents. A finalized proposal will go before the council for approval.

As a possible addition, the council is also considering adding a child care center to the site, to be incorporated into the new building to serve 80-120 children.

City Manager Mike Futrell said the city would seek rental office space nearby for employees to use during construction. The building is home to the city’s building, planning and engineering departments.

“As we move along in this process we need to give our staff better facilities to do what they need to do,” said Mayor Mark Nagales, who said the city needs to “do better,” and it was unacceptable that some employees were using closets as office space due to lack of room.

“This is a building that has obviously outlived its lifespan,” said Vice Mayor Buenaflor Nicolas. “This area is also not ADA compliant, and that is something we need to think about because there’s a lot of elderly or disabled people who need to access the area.”

The project is separate from the city’s community civic campus, a development currently under construction to replace the city’s municipal services building at 33 Arroyo Drive. The new building, across the street on El Camino Real between Chestnut Avenue and Arroyo Drive, will house City Council chambers and the Library and Parks and Recreation departments. A new police station was completed nearby in 2020 and a new fire station is also planned for the area.

The post South San Francisco Civic Middle slated for redesign | Native Information appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.