Rehabilitation of a Federal Office Building at 50 United Nations Plaza in San Francisco

In spring 1945, the United Nations Conference on International Organization was held in the Federal Office Building at 50 United Nations in San Francisco amid a grand complex of Beaux-Arts Style civic buildings. Attended by 3,500 and observed by more than 2,500 members of the public and media, the momentous gathering of 850 delegates from 50 nations culminated in the execution of the Charter of the United Nations, which came into force that fall.

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Within the complex, one of the impressive granite civic buildings was designed for the federal government by Arthur Brown, Jr., and built for $3 million in 1934-1936. Home to the Department of the Navy in 1945, the building at 50 Fulton Street included the well-appointed office suite of Commander Chester W. Nimitz during his term as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy and Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations. Shortly after the General Services Administration (GSA) was formed in 1949, that agency began managing the property, which subsequently housed the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and then the Department of Education.

In the 1970s, Fulton Street was redesigned as a pedestrian-oriented plaza by Lawrence Halprin, the building received a new address–50 United Nations Plaza, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The building was also designated as a contributing structure to the San Francisco Civic Center National Historic Landmark District in 1987.

After the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, GSA determined that costly capital improvements were necessary to bring 50 United Nations Plaza into compliance with building safety and seismic codes. GSA considered the possibility of disposal or a long-term ground lease for the building, and engaged in more than a year of negotiations with a private developer, Forest City Residential West. In fall 2007, GSA terminated negotiations, vacated the few remaining tenants, and reassessed its strategy for the property.

In 2008, GSA commissioned a special program development study, which demonstrated the historic property could be modernized and reused as home to GSA’s Pacific Rim Regional Office headquarters. With the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in 2009, and the support of GSA’s Center for Historic Buildings in Washington, D.C., 50 United Nations Plaza’s $121 million “shovel ready” rehabilitation is slated for fall 2010.

The preservation community already was familiar with the historic property due to GSA’s earlier proposed ground lease, and GSA expeditiously commenced Section 106 consultation on the rehabilitation in spring 2009. In the following months, the ACHP participated in GSA’s consultation as a signatory, along with the California State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and the National Park Service as a concurring party.



By December 2009, consultation resulted in a Memorandum of Agreement among the GSA, the ACHP, and the SHPO regarding GSA’s planned rehabilitation, seismic upgrade, and tenant improvements for the property. A construction drawing submittal was distributed by GSA in February 2010, which proposed substantial demolition of character-defining corridor walls to make way for “open plan” offices and a cutting-edge passive ventilation system.

In response to consulting party comments on the submission, as well as acute budget concerns associated with the extensive scope shown in the drawing submittal, GSA’s architect hired new consultants for the project and went back to the drawing board. GSA presented fresh concept drawings in June 2010, which were praised for retaining a majority of the historic corridors, employing a more discreet structural system, and utilizing the existing historic climate-control systems–including operable windows, transoms, and doors–while still vying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) “Gold” certification. GSA’s renewed commitment to 50 United Nations Plaza, combined with the passage of ARRA, have resulted in redevelopment plans that more effectively accommodate historic and sustainability goals.