Market Center, formerly known as the Standard Oil Buildings and later the Chevron Towers, is a complex comprising two
skyscrapers at 555–575
Market Street Market Street may refer to:
*Market Street, Cambridge, England
*Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
* Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
*Market Street, Manchester, England
*Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
...
in the
Financial District
A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of downtown
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It served as the headquarters of the
Chevron Corporation until 2001. As of 2021, it is owned by Paramount Group, Inc.
575 Market Street is a 40-story, building completed in 1975, the taller of the two towers. 555 Market Street is the shorter tower at with 22 stories, and was completed in 1964. Architect for both buildings was Hertzka & Knowles. The two buildings are situated on a large mid-block property with a central, landscaped plaza. Both buildings are
terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
over a
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
base.
History
Built by
Standard Oil of California, later rebranded as the Chevron Corporation, Market Center was originally constructed and named Standard Oil Building Number 3 (555 Market) and Standard Oil Building Number 4 (575 Market). Chevron occupied the Market Center complex from 1965 until 2001 when it moved its headquarters to its campus in
San Ramon, California.
In 1999, Chevron sold the two buildings to Tishman Speyer and Travelers Real Estate Ventures for US$189.1 million and leased back the office space.
[
At the time the company officially moved its headquarters, it had already moved most workers to San Ramon, leaving only about 200 employees in San Francisco.][ By 2003, the complex was 83 percent vacant, and a joint venture between DivcoWest Properties and RREEF Management Company bought the property for US$79.5 million. In 2010, RREEF Management Company sold the complex to John Hancock Life Insurance Company (U.S.A.), a wholly owned subsidiary of ]Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation (also known as Financière Manuvie in Quebec) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" a ...
Financial Corporation, for US$267 million.[ In 2016, Manulife Financial sold the property to ]The Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
for US$489.6 million.[
]
See also
*List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
San Francisco, California, in the United States, has at least 482 high-rises, 58 of which are at least tall. The tallest building is Salesforce Tower, which rises and is the 17th-tallest building in the United States. The city's second- ...
References
External links
*
{{Buildings in San Francisco timeline
Skyscraper office buildings in San Francisco
Twin towers
Financial District, San Francisco
Market Street (San Francisco)
Office buildings completed in 1964
Office buildings completed in 1975