Preserving and Enhancing with a Thoughtful Nod to the Past
Our historic renovations at 400 and 430 California Street in San Francisco, California illustrate our strategy to unlock the inherent value of historically significant assets, which are often under-capitalized and under-managed. Through a design that preserves and enhances the original features, we are delivering a modern work environment that provides a thoughtful nod to the past.
In 2016, Kennedy Wilson and joint-venture partner Takenaka Corporation acquired the 21-story 430 California Street and the adjacent iconic bank branch at 400 California Street, which is registered as a San Francisco Designated Landmark and is considered a unique example of the past that is irreplaceable. 400 California Street was built in 1908, based on the Knickerbocker Trust Company building in New York City, and is surrounded on three sides by a colossal colonnade.
Kennedy Wilson and Takenaka embarked on a large scale renovation of the two buildings, with a focus on modernizing the interior office space of the tower, refreshing the lobby space, and implementing a large scale seismic retrofit while preserving key architectural features of the buildings, including existing mullions and exterior glazing.
The voluntary seismic retrofit was a critical aspect of preserving the two buildings that will protect the interior arch elements of the bank branch building and ensure its lasting legacy. The two buildings were secured together with new structural steel beams, concrete bracing, as well as a new technique with friction dampers developed in Japan and Denmark, the first time this method has been used in the United States. The process involved not only engineers, contractors, and historic preservation consultants, but significant input from the City of San Francisco, a peer review committee and an academic scholar from University of California, Berkeley.
Renovations of the tower at 430 California Street are on pace to be completed in 2020.
