The Sequoias Retirement Community

1. 1969

   Built.

2. 1969

   The Sequoias Retirement Community, designed by Silvio Marraccini of Stone, Mulloy & Marraccini in the Late Modern style.

   Large Apartment Buildings Historic Context Statement, adopted 2024
3. 1969

   "The Sequoias", 1969: a twenty-five-storey, three-hundred-unit senior housing complex on Cathedral Hill by Stone, Marraccini & Patterson, clad in pre-cast concrete of smooth, raked and coarse textures.

   Modern Architecture and Landscape Design Context Statement, adopted 2011
4. Jun 1982

   Permit 8204520 $$$ $200,000

   Building use: office/apts.

5. May 1994

   Permit 9406865 $$$ $2,000,000

   Renovate public area of residence facility addit'n restrooms.

6. Jun 1994

   Permit 9408946 $$$ $300,000

   To install an emergency generator & tank (9406865).

7. May 2004

   Issued Permit 200405042907 $$$ $1,500,000

   Phase ii plaza redevelopment waterproofing paving new planters new electrical new plumbing demolition.

8. Mar 2005

   Permit 200503097067 $$$ $2,000,000

   Plaza redevelopment phase 3 & 4 parking area. waterproofing, re-paving & grading, new landscaping.

9. Jul 2006

   Permit 200607136421 $$$ $589,420

   Level b hvac system new 1-20 ton split a/c system 2-5 ton split a/c systems for server room.

10. Jul 2007

    Issued Permit 200707126638 $$$ $1,200,000

    Floors 3rd thru 25th floors-replace existing pane window frames and glazing with new commerical heavy duty aluminium windows with thermal breaks.

11. Aug 2007

    Permit 200708159891 $$$ $350,000

    Renovation of existing residents one unit/f, 14/f, 20/f, 21/f, 24/f, 25/f.

12. 2009

    Recorded in the city's 2009 survey of Japantown as a large-scale Brutalist apartment block and tower, of the kind redevelopment put along the Geary Boulevard corridor in the 1960s and 1970s.

    Japantown Historic Context Statement, May 2009
13. Feb 2011

    Permit 201102109978 $$$ $1,700,000

    (level "a" - atrium): atrium level being redone. remodel existing restrooms (men & womens). remodel library area, redo fireplace, new mep. sprinklers under separate permit.

14. Sep 2011

    Permit 201109144589 $$$ $3,800,000

    Renovation and refurbishing of bedrooms, toilets, shared program spaces, staff areas and corridors on the mezzanine and third floors of existing 26 story steel and concrete building. project also includes the renovation of existing construction in and around a large mechanical shaft on the mezz. & 3rd fl.

15. Dec 2013

    Permit 201312234818 $$$ $3,200,000

    Utility upgrade: existingelec. service + equip demolition'd & replaceexistingmain switches & main switch board; newelectrical room @ basement level; newcircuit breaker class switch boards; newplug in bus riser 3rd thru 25th floors; decommisioning ofexistinglaundry room/basement converting to sotrage use.

16. Mar 2016

    Issued Permit 201603222703 $$$ $1,000,000

    Equipment & finishes upgrades to existing dining room in multifamily residence building.

17. Aug 2016

    Permit 201608255951 $$$ $200,000

    Level b - laundry reconstruction project: renovate existing storage room & office area into new commercial laundry facility with assoc clean soiled linen room. an addition of epo switches & trench drains to an existing ele room. fire alarm and sprinkler system revisions under separate application.

18. Jan 2018

    Issued Permit 201801229182 $$$ $450,000

    Remove and replace h ot water storage tanks and associated flat plate heat exchangers in e level b mechanical room b1.6.

19. Oct 2019

    Issued Permit 201910164671 $$$ $1,300,000

    Renovation of 2 exhaust hoods in the level a kitchen as well as the replacement of an air handling unit. exhaust fan and pollution control unit in the level g mechanical room that serve the level a kitchen and associated dining area.

20. Oct 2019

    Permit 201910164665 $$$ $1,100,000

    Renovation of an existing level a resident store room into a fitness center. the relocation of an existing level a staff workroom. and the relocation of resident storage to an area within the level b parking garage.

21. Jan 2023

    Permit 202301260810 $$$ $148,000

    Replace 196 speakers with new. add 257 speakers, add 2 smoke detectors, 3 speaker strobes.

22. Mar 2024

    Issued Permit 202403137669 $$$ $230,000

    Reroofing; coating the roof with liquatec roof coating. approx 5500 sq ft.

23. Feb 2026

    Filed Permit 202509125249 $$$ $1,000,000

    Installation of new fuel cell equipment with associated structural platform support, plumbing and electrical engineering. all exterior work and no modificationsto existing building or use impacted. loading dock will remain in use.

24. Aug 2026

    Filed Permit 202606173379 $$$ $19,500,000

    Replacement of exterior glazing systems throughout the entire facility, including windows, storefronts, entrances & curtain walls.replacement of elevators, traction machines & counterweights withnew cabs, controls & equipment for anewdestination dispatch elevator system.

DBI holds 317 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 317. 14 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. 5 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. The city's two surveys of this building disagree about its style: the 2009 Japantown survey calls it Brutalist, the 2024 citywide statement on large apartment buildings calls it Late Modern.