505 Montgomery Street facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 505 Montgomery Street |
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505 Montgomery Street from Portsmouth Square
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| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Location | 505 Montgomery Street San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′38″N 122°24′12″W / 37.793963°N 122.403409°W |
| Completed | 1988 |
| Owner | RREEF |
| Height | |
| Roof | 100 m (330 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 24 |
| Floor area | 333,000 sq ft (30,900 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill |
| Main contractor | Dinwiddie Construction |
505 Montgomery Street is a tall, 24-story office building located in the busy financial district of San Francisco, California. It stands about 100 meters (328 feet) high.
A cool part of the building is its 98-foot spire on top. It looks a bit like the famous Empire State Building. This connection became popular because of a fun event when the building first opened. An inflatable 40-foot gorilla was placed on the spire as a publicity stunt!
Building History
The company called Empire Group of San Francisco started building 505 Montgomery. They bought ten pieces of land in 1978. In 1983, they shared their first plans for the building.
The first idea was to build a 28-story building. But the design was changed to 24 stories. This was done to fit city rules about how much space a building could take up. The final permission to build was given in June 1984.
While the building was still being constructed, a Japanese company called Mitsui Fudosan bought a large part of it from Empire Group. Another company, AMB, then finished managing the building's construction.
Later, in 1994, the building got new lighting. This helped it save energy and earned it an Energy Star label. In 2005, the building was sold to RREEF.
Building Design
The architects who designed 505 Montgomery Street were Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. They wanted the building to look like the cool Art Deco skyscrapers from the 1930s.
The building has a special roof shape that looks like steps. It's called a trapezoidal or mansard roof. The outside of the building is covered in shiny gray granite stone.
Empire Park
Empire Park is a small public park located near 505 Montgomery Street. It's at 642 Commercial Street. The people who built 505 Montgomery Street created this park. It's a "privately owned public space," meaning it's owned by a company but open for everyone to use.
The first plan for the building included a walkway inside, connecting two streets. But this walkway would have been small and dark. It also might not have felt welcoming to the nearby Chinatown community. So, the developers decided to create a park nearby instead. This also allowed them to have more office space inside the building itself.
The park was first called Grabhorn Park. It was named after the Grabhorn Press, a famous printing company that used to be on that spot.
Empire Park is also important because it's where Emperor Norton lived. He was a famous and unique person in San Francisco history. He lived there from the early 1860s until he passed away in 1880.
