New plans have been filed to create a bookstore and event space inside the 115-year-old brick building at 556 Commercial Street in San Francisco’s Financial District. The application was filed on behalf of the Center for the Art of Translation, the property owner and a non-profit literary community that promotes and supports literary translation and translators.
Page & Turnbull, a San Francisco-based firm specializing in architecture and historic preservation, is responsible for the application. The project plans describe replacing the non-historic storefront, adding an elevator, creating a rooftop deck, and a full seismic retrofit. Plans describe that interior innovations will include the “development of a ground-floor bookstore and event space, office, restrooms, and support spaces.”
556 Commercial Street, image by San Francisco Assessors circa 1957
The narrow three-story office structure contains roughly 6,930 square feet. Renovations will include 1,200 square feet of ground-level retail above 3,200 square feet for offices on levels two through three and a rooftop deck.
City records show the structure is inside the Commercial-Leidesdorff Article 11 Conservation District and that the 1908-built property appears eligible for the National Register as a historic resource, but an evaluation has yet to happen. Charles M. Rousseau, a Belgian-born architect and co-founder of a San Francisco architecture firm, is the original architect. Charles was the father to Oliver and Arthur Rousseau, who became known for their “fairy tale’ style homes in the Sunset District.
The site is a block from the Transamerica Pyramid on a block bound by Montgomery Street, Leidesdorff Street, and Clay Street.
City records show the 0.04-acre property was sold last in June 2022 for $5.56 million. Center for the Art of Translation has yet to reply to a request for comment.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Be the first to comment on "Renovation Proposed by Literary Non-Profit for 556 Commercial Street, Financial District, San Francisco"