Clubhouse: The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences: Chronicled Past
Fractional units in San Francisco’s first skyscraper.
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Sharephotos by: Courtesy The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C.
August 1, 2008
When San Francisco architect Charles Bloszies was commissioned to transform the 17-story building on the corner of Market and Kearny streets into a 25-story Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, the structure, sheathed in metal cladding since the 1960s, was hardly the pride of the city. However, after discovering photographs of the building when it was erected in 1890 by Chicago architectural firm Burnham and Root, Bloszies realized the building’s historic significance. "It was the site of the San Francisco Chronicle from 1890 to 1924, and its opening had been well documented by the paper," says Bloszies. "It was the first skyscraper in San Francisco and the tallest building on the West Coast at the time it was completed."Fortunately, the building’s original masonry and stone facades were still intact under the metal sheathing. "It was like uncovering buried treasure," says Bloszies, whose design retained the structure while adding eight stories, made of light-colored stone and glass. The building now accommodates 16 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom, and four three-bedroom residences sold as one-twelfth shares (prices start at $230,000). Additionally, on floors 14 and above are 57 whole-ownership units, which start at $1.1 million.
Because of the building’s asymmetrical design, each floor offers a variety of layouts. "It’s not your typical cookie-cutter building," says Bloszies. Units feature high ceilings with numerous windows to let in streams of natural light. The traditionally styled club residences consist of dark wood floors, marble bathrooms with oversize tubs, and master suites with four-poster beds. "In the two-bedroom units, both bedrooms are master suites," notes Bloszies.
Opened for occupancy late last year, the building, which does not contain a hotel, offers hotel-like amenities for its residents in the form of a 12th-floor club lounge with wine storage, daily breakfast and afternoon cocktails, and an open terrace that looks out over Market Street and some of the city’s other landmarks.
The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, San Francisco, 877.201.4290, www.ritzcarltonclub.com
