Vornado Realty Trust has commissioned Fogarty Finger, a New York City-based architecture firm, to revamp the interiors of 555 California Street, located in San Francisco’s Financial District. The firm will oversee the refurbishment of the 34th and 46th floors to entice new tenants into one of the city’s most prominent office buildings. Work is expected to finish by July this year.
555 California Street is the sixth tallest skyscraper in the Bay Area, planned or built. Formerly known as the Bank of America Building, the distinct carnelian granite-clad tower stands 779 feet above the San Francisco Financial District streets. 555 California was briefly the tallest building in the country west of the Mississippi River when finished in 1969. Vornado Realty Trust and the Trump Organization are joint property owners.
Once the tallest building in the west of the United States, 555 California Street still stands out in the San Francisco skyline half a century later. The 1969-era skyscraper has long been symbolic of the city’s Financial District, second only to the Transamerica Pyramid. Currently, the building is majority-owned by Vornado Realty Trust, holding 70% of ownership, with a 30% partnership deal with the President’s Trump Organization. Vornado announced this week that they have temporarily ceased efforts to sell the building, as well as the 1290 6th Avenue tower in Manhattan, also part-owned by the President’s company, stopping the search for a potential $5 billion transaction. If made, the Trump Organization stood to gain $1.5 billion. Efforts to sell are expected to restart in 2021.