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Van Ness was conceived in 1991 after a chance meeting in Japan between Rick
Holliday and Ford Motor Company, who owned a San Francisco building. Their
building—an eight-story, landmark-listed, concrete-framed structure—had
been built in 1921 as a Cadillac showroom, and was appropriately exuberant
and luxurious. It had most recently been used as a political-campaign office,
and was on the market. Rick Holliday understood that the additional city
block of real estate directly behind the building presented a huge opportunity
for expanding the 250,000- square-foot building. As the economy waxed and
waned and an assortment of planning bureaucracies entered the picture, the
plans varied as well. In the end, a mixed-use condo-retail-leisure development
was chosen. In 1996, Holliday Development partnered with AMC Theatres, which
was interested in expanding its San Francisco presence. AMC signed on as
the anchor tenant in what would become a steel-framed 14-screen, 3,300-seat
multiplex theater extension to the historic building. In 1997, the project
was spilt into two separate partnerships: commercial and residential. The
Martin Group and Burnham Pacific Properties spearheaded the commercial project.
The residential development, The Marquee lofts became the primary responsibility
of Holliday Development.
By the time the residential portion was under construction, San Francisco’s
dot-com boom had begun and real estate prices were soaring. Holliday Development
rapidly changed its for-rent housing plans to a luxury for-sale loft project.
Each studio, signature, and penthouse unit featured hardwood floors, 12-foot-high
concrete columns and ceilings, original wood sash windows, granite countertops,
mahogany cabinets, stainless-steel appliances, custom kitchen islands, and
custom options through our Design Center. When The Marquee lofts went on
the market, the lofts sold out in three to four months at $450 per square
foot, which made The Marquee lofts the highest priced lofts in San Francisco
at the time. |
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