Masonic Temple

1. October 22, 1910

   The Masons' grand conclave decided to begin a new Masonic Temple on this corner: a white-marble Byzantine building of $750,000, 120 feet high with 120 feet on Van Ness and 156 on Oak, a dome with windows after Hagia Sophia, an auditorium of 65 by 129 feet, lodge rooms, offices and a drill hall of 63 by 140 feet in the basement. Bliss & Faville, architects.

   The San Francisco Call, 22 October 1910, p. 9
2. 1911

   Built as the Masonic Temple, steel-framed and of concrete, to a Venetian Renaissance design by Bliss & Faville.

   Market & Octavia Historic Context Statement, adopted 2007
3. March 26, 1913

   The Furniture Shop and Beach-Robinson Co. contracted to furnish the building — paint, furniture, carpets, linoleum, shades, draperies, curtains, and the stage curtains and canopy — at $46,786. Cross streets: NW corner of Van Ness Avenue and Oak.

   The San Francisco Call, 26 March 1913, p. 19
4. May 1982

   Permit 8203493 $$$ $15,000

   Building use: commercial.

5. Feb 1988

   Permit 8801362 $$$ $146,000

   New gyp partitions, hvac, clg. grid, sprklrs, electrical.

6. Sep 1999

   Permit 9919555 $$$ $200,000

   Provide title 24 restrooms, change partial interior layout.

7. Aug 2000

   Permit 200008258852 $$$ $130,000

   Oti-1, 2nd floor, el, me, ls, sp.

8. 2002

   The building's tenants included City offices and the New Conservatory Theater.

   San Francisco Planning Department, The San Francisco Conservatory of Music at 50 Oak Street: Initial Study, 2002.
9. Aug 2006

   Permit 200608098978 $$$ $610,000

   Installation of new roof. higher than 0.70 reflectance, higher than 0.75 thermal emittance.

10. Feb 2007

    Issued Permit 200702285139 $$$ $180,000

    Oti-1 7th floor el, l/s (suite #700).

11. Feb 2007

    Issued Permit 200702285134 $$$ $125,000

    Demolition of coffee station casework, sliding door and patching of adjacent finished, construction of new glazed partition, painting new and weexsiting walls and soffits, constuction of new cross corridor dorrs (oti-1=6th floor, el, ls.

12. Nov 2009

    Issued Permit 200911121096 $$$ $150,000

    Permanent cooling for 3 servers rooms. furnish and install 3 water cooled heat pumps to provide permanent cooling to meet the process heating loads on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floor server rooms.

13. May 2011

    Permit 201105125931 $$$ $4,488,000

    T.i of the 1st, 3rd, 5th & 6th floors of 25 van ness ave.interior alternation/renovation including architecture, structural, mechanical, plumbings and electrical work.

14. Jun 2016

    Permit 201606301291 $$$ $149,312

    Minor renovation of existing theater lobby to include new paint, carpet, furnishings, replace lighting and repair sprinklers. minor partition adjustment.

15. Nov 2020

    Issued Permit 202011209404 $$$ $250,000

    Grindings of sidewalk pavement and re-apply waterproofing on sidewalk to protect basement rooms. (non structural pavement only).

16. Jul 2022

    Permit 202207138394 $$$ $1,750,000

    Tenant improvement of 27 van ness suite with demolition and construction scope for wall partitions, flooring, ceilings, finishes, as well as related mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, and electrical work.

17. Nov 2022

    Permit 202211035811 $$$ $1,275,000

    7/f: selective demolition of interior partitions, construction of new partitions, new lighting, new finishes, new plumbing in breakroom, ada upgrades in restrooms, new power and data receptacles.

18. Sep 2024

    Issued Permit 202409191147 $$$ $1

    Project consists exclusively of elevator modernization of two traction elevators (elevators #1 and #2) and one hydraulic elevator (#3) at 25 van ness ave.

DBI holds 168 permits for this parcel, most of them tenant improvements on individual floors. The timeline shows the 24 largest by stated cost, plus the earliest on file; the DBI query in the sources below returns all 168. 6 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. 11 expired or cancelled permits are not shown.