Southern Pacific Building facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Southern Pacific Building
The Market street facade of One Market Plaza
General information
Type	Commercial offices
Location	1 Market Street San Francisco, California United States
Coordinates	37°47′38″N 122°23′42″W / 37.79396°N 122.39496°W / 37.79396; -122.39496
Completed	1917
Cost	US$1.5 million
Owner	Morgan Stanley Real Estate Paramount Group, Inc.
Height
Roof	65 m (213 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	12
Floor area	420,000 sq ft (39,000 m2)
Design and construction
Architect	Walter Danforth Bliss William Baker Faville
Structural engineer	Tipping Mar + Associates (1999 retrofit)

The Southern Pacific Building is one of three office buildings comprising One Market Plaza along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. The historic 11-story, 65-metre (213 ft) building, also known as "The Landmark", was started in 1916

History

The building served as the headquarters for the Southern Pacific Railroad after its move from the Flood Building in 1917, ten years after SP had moved into the Flood Building in 1907. At its completion, the building's first floor was devoted to retail except for the portion facing the rear courtyard (opening to Mission Street), which was reserved for Southern Pacific. SP rented the second floor to a tenant, but occupied floors three through ten with various offices. For many years, the building was topped with a large sign emblazoned with a gothic "S·P".

It was later incorporated into the 1976 One Market Plaza development which includes Spear Tower and Steuart Tower. By 1995, Sam Zell owned One Market Plaza. However, Union Pacific Railroad was still the owner of One Market Street until the building was sold for US$50,000,000 (equivalent to $89,771,335 in 2022) to The Martin Group (TMG) in 1998.

Design

When completed, One Market Street was hailed as the tallest steel-framed structure west of the Mississippi. The building is planned in the form of the capital letter "E", with the longest side, 275 ft (84 m) long, along Market Street. The wings on Spear and Steuart Streets are each 210 ft (64 m) long, and the central arm is occupied by elevators. It is designed in the Italian Renaissance style with details executed in Roman brick and terra cotta. The lobby was fitted with Colorado yule marble walls and an ornamental plaster ceiling.

During the 1998–99 refurbishment, two of the eight original passenger elevators were eliminated and custom-sized modern elevator cabs were installed in the other six shafts, running on the original guide rails. The elevators had received a major redesign in 1956, when elevator operators were eliminated by automatic operation.

Gallery

• 

  Soon after completion in 1917

• 

  In 2013, with Spear and Steuart Towers rising in the background

• 

  The "S·P" sign from The Embarcadero (1956)

• 

  Rear courtyard opening on Mission (1917)

• 

  Cross-section drawing (parallel to Spear/Steuart)

Tenants

• Autodesk
• Salesforce.com