Market Center (San Francisco) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Market Center |
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555 Market (left) and 575 Market (right)
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| Former names | Standard Oil Buildings |
| Alternative names | Chevron Towers |
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Location | 555–575 Market Street San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′22″N 122°24′01″W / 37.78955°N 122.4003°W |
| Completed | 1964 / 1975 |
| Owner | Manulife Real Estate |
| Height | |
| Roof | 94.79 m (311.0 ft) 174.65 m (573.0 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 22 / 40 |
| Floor area | 283,000 sq ft (26,300 m2) 487,000 sq ft (45,200 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Hertzka & Knowles |
| Structural engineer | H.J. Brunnier Associates |
Market Center is a cool set of two tall buildings, called skyscrapers, located in downtown San Francisco, California. These buildings used to be known as the Standard Oil Buildings and later the Chevron Towers. They are found on Market Street in an area called the Financial District.
For many years, Market Center was the main office for the Chevron Corporation, a big energy company. They used these buildings as their headquarters until 2001.
The two buildings are different heights. The taller one, called 575 Market Street, has 40 floors and stands about 175 meters (574 feet) tall. It was finished in 1975. The shorter building, 555 Market Street, has 22 floors and is about 95 meters (312 feet) tall. It was completed earlier, in 1964.
Both buildings were designed by the same architects, Hertzka & Knowles. They are surrounded by small, pretty outdoor areas. The outside of the buildings is made of a special type of baked clay called terra cotta over a base of strong granite stone.
A Look Back: Market Center's History
Before the Chevron Corporation moved into Market Center, their main office was at a different address, 225 Bush Street. A person named Theodore S. Petersen, Sr., was in charge there for many years, from the 1940s to the early 1960s.
Chevron then moved its main offices to the Market Center complex in 1965. They stayed there for a long time, until 2001. That's when they decided to move their headquarters to a new campus in San Ramon, California.
In 1999, before Chevron officially moved out, they sold the two buildings. Even though they sold them, Chevron still rented office space in the buildings for a while. By 2001, most of their employees had already moved to San Ramon, leaving only about 200 people in the San Francisco office.
After Chevron fully moved out, the buildings became mostly empty. In 2003, a new group of companies bought the property. Later, in 2010, another company called Manulife Financial bought the complex. They are the current owners of Market Center.
