799 Van Ness Avenue

1. 1917

   Recorded in the city's survey of the Van Ness Avenue automobile corridor as built for use as an auto shop and garage. Dated 1917 and 1925. The first story was designed by Willis Polk and Company; the same firm added the second story in 1925, a year after Polk's death. It has profiled cornices, a chamfered corner at Eddy Street and a wooden classical entrance in the cornice. Three businesses at a time in its early years: auto repair shops from 1917, an auto painting shop 1918–1932, and a public garage 1919–1942. Later the whole building was one dealer's service shop.

   Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures survey, adopted 2010
2. 1919

   A public garage ran in the building for 24 years from 1919.

   Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures survey, adopted 2010
3. Feb 1985

   Permit 8501992 $$$ $350

   Sign - erect.

4. Feb 1985

   Permit 8501993 $$$ $350

   Sign - erect.

5. Jul 1991

   Permit 9112533 $$$ $10,000

   Parapet.

6. 2010

   Evaluated in the city's survey of the Van Ness Avenue automobile corridor and given California Register status code 3CS — individually eligible for the California Register, under Criteria 1 and 3.

   Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures survey, adopted 2010
7. Mar 2012

   Permit 201203266852 $$$ $15,000

   1st, 2nd floor & basement interior non-structural demolition on 2 floors & basement. no exterior work. no construction work per ab-017.

8. Apr 2012

   Permit 201204279305 $$$ $650,000

   Voluntary seismic strengthening. new shotcrete walls, new steel brace frames and roof diaphram strengthening. work is structural only. no tenant improvement. no ada work per abo17. ada improvements under separate permit.

9. Jun 2012

   Issued Permit 201206132520 $$$ $70,000

   Install new fire sprinkler system for t.i. - 157 fire sprinkler heads in basement, 191 fire srpinkler heads on 1st floor, 158 fire sprinkler heads on 2nd floor. sprinkler monitoring & underground seperate permit.

10. Jul 2012

    Permit 201207205365 $$$ $180,310

    Demolition of existing slab and auto ramps for new elevator, stairs, pedestrial and auto ramps. building is vacant per ab-017. disabled access will not be performed until future permit.

11. Aug 2012

    Permit 201208096937 $$$ $350,000

    Install non-load bearing partitions, doors, ceilings. install new lighting & power on all floors (basmt, 1st & 2nd floor), construction of four (4) new ada bathrooms on all floors (basmt, 1st & 2nd floor). install two (2) new drinking fountains on 2nd floor.

12. Nov 2012

    Permit 201211154285 $$$ $31,700

    Installation of new fire alarm system. ref building permit 201208096937.

13. Apr 2013

    Issued Permit 201304225128 $$$ $2,500

    Install two illuminated projecting logo modle sign.

14. May 2013

    Issued Permit 201305136718 $$$ $3,500

    Erect an electric projecting double faced replacement sign.

15. Sep 2013

    Issued Permit 201309277975 $$$ $13,000

    Erect an electric wall single faced new sign.

16. May 2015

    Permit 201505206745 $$$ $365,000

    Demolition of e non load bearing walls and lights. five offices, 1 storage room, 1 private restroom, new non load bearing partitions, doors, windows, paint. new lighting, mechanical, soft service dept maher not req.

17. Jul 2015

    Issued Permit 201507302920 $$$ $4,000

    Install (6) new heads to accomodate full length wall install, t.i. delete 8 heads. first floor. permit application 201505206745. n/a ordinance #155-13.

18. Sep 2015

    Permit 201509025916 $$$ $2,500

    1st and 2nd floors: fire alarm permit: add 2 horn/strobes, one smoke detector and relocate 2 existing horn/strobes. n/a for maher. ref app#201505206745.

19. Jan 2016

    Issued Permit 201601116791 $$$ $2,500

    To obtain final inspection for work approved under permit application 2013-0422-5128. all work is complete.

20. Jul 2018

    Permit 201807255501 $$$ $10,000

    Shoring of existing concrete beams in order to perform destructive investigation to determine size and layout of existing rebar and structural repair after investrigation. maher n/a.

21. Feb 2019

    Issued Permit 201902011918 $$$ $750,000

    Roof strengthening to support mechanical equipment; retractable skylight, add swimming pool; remove existing concrete gravity columns; demolition/infill of concrete ramp. mechanical & tenant improvement under separate permit.

22. Feb 2019

    Issued Permit 201902132846 $$$ $3,080,000

    Basement, 1st, 2nd & roof. new renovation of existing building. change of use. new provide fitness center. pool, beauty spa, ancillary, restaurant etc. (mep, life safety, sprinklers, skylights, stairs, structural, guards, demolition under separate permit).structural permit application 2019/02/01/1918 under review.

23. Apr 2019

    Issued Permit 201904057233 $$$ $120,000

    Basement, 1st, 2nd & roof. soft demolition including mechanical unit on roof, and interior all floors. maher na. ab-017.

24. Oct 2019

    Issued Permit 201910083937 $$$ $200,000

    Mep for 201902132846 (3 level fitness center with change of occ); on basmt, 1, 2 & roof levels; incl new electrical upgrade from 1000a @ 120/208v to 1200a @ 277/480v, new branch circuit distribution, etc; also incl revisions to 201902011918/r1 (added structural support for mep equpmt on roof).

25. Dec 2019

    Issued Permit 201912230419 $$$ $100,000

    Change of use already approved permit application 2019-0213-2846: scope of work covers pool only.

26. Mar 2020

    Issued Permit 202003126954 $$$ $1

    Deferred skylight permit on the roof (change of use under 2019-0213-2846) ref pa 2019-0201-1918 (roof structural), 2019-0213-2846 (main permit), 2019-0405-7233 (sep demolition) 2019-1008-3937 (mep); arch revision to 2019-0213-2846.

27. Jun 2026

    Filed Permit 202606092873 $$$ $3,500,000

    Convert 45k sq ft historical building to self storage facility. repair/restore facade w. dept of interior standards for preservation. interior structure improvements with new mechanical & electrical ystem. plumbing for 465 sq ft office space with restroom. exterior single pane glass restore with translucent laminate applied.

DBI holds 33 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 33. 4 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. The assessor's roll gives 1917; this address is recorded as built 1916.