945–999 Van Ness Avenue

1. 1937

   Built by R. J. Fisher.

2. 1937

   Recorded in the city's survey of the Van Ness Avenue automobile corridor as built for use as an auto showroom. Designed by John E. Dinwiddie in the Art Deco and Streamlined Moderne manner, for the Chevrolet dealership of Ernest Ingold. It was the last auto showroom built on Van Ness Avenue. A Chevrolet dealership into the 1960s, and a Chevrolet dealership under a second name after that.

   Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures survey, adopted 2010
3. 1937

   An automobile showroom of 1937 by John Ekin Dinwiddie, and among the notable large Streamline Moderne commercial buildings of the period.

   Modern Architecture and Landscape Design Context Statement, adopted 2011
4. Jun 2002

   Issued Permit M20779 $$$ $6,000

   Streetspace.

5. May 2005

   Permit 200505041583 $$$ $5,200

   Renew two expired permits 200405042955-200404191613-sign permits.

6. Aug 2005

   Permit 200508170550 $$$ $3,700

   Install 1 illuminated wall sign.

7. Oct 2007

   Permit 200710125285 $$$ $95,000

   Installation of solar electric system on rooftop of commercial building, including construction of new steel supporting frame. this project has undergone presubmittal review by sheely perdue (preservation planner) and david green (chief electrical inspector).

8. Oct 2009

   Permit 200910269826 $$$ $270,500

   Reroofing.

9. 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, 2 and 3.

   Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures survey, adopted 2010
10. Oct 2013

    Issued Permit 201310098940 $$$ $700

    Erect new sign 47" x44" direct illumination.

11. Jan 2016

    Permit 201601076565 $$$ $80,000

    Interior remodel for e auto detailing facility. limited to 3rd fl, no change of use. demolition e office and partitions, new accessory storage rooms for cont use as detailing facility, accessibility upgrades in new restrooms, entrance, signage, millwork, path travel maher na.

12. Apr 2016

    Permit 201604043868 $$$ $16,000

    Mechanical and electrical deferred ap 201601076565.

13. Mar 2025

    Permit 202503252977 $$$ $10,000

    Recommencement and completion of work approved under permit application 201512286002.

14. May 2025

    Permit 202505126231 $$$ $100,000

    Recommencement and completion of work approved under permit application 201512235807.

15. Apr 2026

    Filed Permit 202604159490 $$$ $45,000

    3/f: concrete slab repair.

16. Jul 2026

    Issued Permit 202607024481 $$$ $1

    To obtain final inspection for work approved under permit application 201607192674. all work is complete.

DBI holds 32 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 32. 5 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. 12 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. The Van Ness automobile corridor survey dates the Dinwiddie showroom here to 1937 and treats it as standing; the citywide professionals biographies date it 1938, name it the George Olsen Cadillac showroom and record it as demolished. The Modern design context statement calls the showroom the Ernest Ingold Chevrolet showroom and dates it 1937 in one passage, and George Olsen Cadillac, 1938, in another.