37.7906, −122.4041 A locator map appears here once a Mapbox token is configured.
Know This Place

District 3 · Block 0287, Lot 001 · ZIP 94108

Olympic Club building

251–259 Kearny Street · Union Square

  • 8 stories
  • 31,978 ft2
  • 3,896.45 ft2 lot area
  • 8 bathrooms
  • Zoned C3O
  • Historic resource
Land$2,219,141
Improvements$1,421,629
Total assessed$3,640,770
37.7906, −122.4041 Street View appears here once a Google Maps embed key is configured.
  1. 1908

    Built.

  2. 1908

    The Charleston Building, designed by architect Albert Pissis.

    Architecture, Planning & Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, adopted 2021
  3. 1920

    Olympic Club building, designed by John Albert Baur. A twelve-storey building for the Olympic Club.

    Architecture, Planning & Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, adopted 2021
  4. 1979

    The Foundation for San Francisco's Architectural Heritage rated the Charleston Building "B" in the 1979 downtown survey it published as Splendid Survivors — the second of its four grades, for buildings it judged individually important for their architecture, their history and their setting. The Department of City Planning's 1976 Architectural Inventory rated it "0" on a scale running from 0 to 5. Buildings rated A or B by the Foundation, or 3 or above by the city survey, went onto the List of Architecturally and/or Historically Significant Buildings in the Downtown, adopted by the City Planning Commission on 29 May 1980 in Resolution No. 8600.

    222 Kearny Street DEIR, SF Dept. of City Planning, 1983
  5. 1979

    The survey's figure also listed a McKay Building at 251–255 Kearny Street: unrated by the Department of City Planning's architectural inventory, "C" in Splendid Survivors, and marked for the City Planning Commission's list of architecturally or historically significant downtown buildings adopted May 29, 1980.

    San Francisco Department of City Planning, 333 Bush Street: Environmental Impact Report: Draft, 1982.
  6. May 29, 1980

    The Charleston Building was on the City Planning Commission's list of architecturally or historically significant buildings in the downtown, adopted May 29, 1980.

    San Francisco Department of City Planning, 333 Bush Street: Environmental Impact Report: Draft, 1982.
  7. 1983

    Kept and restored when the three buildings beside it were cleared for a mixed-use development.

    San Francisco Department of City Planning, 243 Kearny Mixed-Use Development: Draft Initial Study, Case No. 83.91E, 1983.
  8. Nov 1984
    Permit 8412561 $$$ $80,000

    Demolition. & const. partitions.

  9. Feb 1993
    Permit 9302627 $$$ $15,000

    Const tenant wall at g/f add bathroom relocate mezz stair.

  10. Jun 1993
    Permit 9309237 $$$ $15,000

    Construct tenant wall at g/f install light fixture & ceiling.

  11. Sep 1997
    Permit 9718173 $$$ $190,000

    Remove/install existing elevators, add, remodel bathrm, store f.

  12. Feb 1998
    Permit 9803125 $$$ $25,000

    Build stair frm grnd floor lobby to basement, build tenant wall.

  13. Mar 1998
    Permit 9803502 $$$ $35,000

    Installation of fire sprinkler system throughout the building.

  14. Jan 1999
    Permit 9901356 $$$ $16,000

    Install fire alarm system for entire building.

  15. Jun 1999
    Permit 9911487 $$$ $23,000

    Oti el ls sp 5th floor.

  16. Jun 1999
    Permit 9911490 $$$ $20,000

    Oti el ls sp 5th floor.

  17. Jun 1999
    Permit 9912489 $$$ $30,000

    Oti-1 el. ls. sp. 8th floor.

  18. Jan 2000
    Permit 20000110586 $$$ $1,500

    Non-structural tenant improvement work on 2nd flor provide 2 accessible restrooms @ multiple level.

  19. Jan 2000
    Permit 20000124802 $$$ $25,000

    Plans for construction submitted 6th fl tenant improvement.

  20. Mar 2000
    Permit 200003245340 $$$ $95,000

    Tenant improvement work to 3rd and 4th floors.

  21. Apr 2000
    Permit 200004137196 $$$ $45,000

    Remodel empty 7th floor of building according to plans submitted.

  22. Jun 2002
    Issued Permit M20881 $$$ $10,100

    Street space.

  23. Jul 2010
    Permit 201007086216 $$$ $109,540

    Non-structural tenant improvements to existing retail store, including electrical, plumbing, new h/c restroom, new occupancy from "b" cafe to "m" retail.

  24. Sep 2011
    Permit 201109013689 $$$ $20,000

    7th floor: t.i.: replace existing partition walls with new glazed partition walls. expand break room. new power layout.

  25. Jun 2015
    Issued Permit 201506017662 $$$ $58,000

    New restaurant: new service area cabinet & display. new cashier station, new equipment @ kitchen area, new paint, flooringand decorative wall panels.

DBI holds 75 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 75. 6 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. A Charleston Building of 1908 by Albert Pissis is recorded at this address; the building standing on the parcel is the Olympic Club building of 1920. The draft EIR's survey figure prints the Charleston Building's address as '251-155 Kearny', overlapping the '251-255 Kearny' it gives the McKay Building in the adjacent row — probably a printing error. One survey figure gives the Charleston Building a '0' in the Department of City Planning's architectural inventory; another account records it as not rated.

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