Organized Labor

Organized Labor recently visited DPR Construction's all-union One Kearny project located at Market and Kearny Streets. Superintendent Jerry McKinley said the new 12-story office building will bookend and support the existing original French Empire-style building next door that was built in 1902, and an annex on the east side of the building built in the 1960s. The previous three-story building that occupied the site, built in the 1920s, was demolished last August.

The new building was designed by architect Charles F. Bloszies, who said it will feature, "a richly textured glass and aluminum facade, tempered by terra cotta panels." He described the overall project as, "an amalgam of three buildings, one new and two existing from different eras, which will form a new single office building with retail uses on lower floors. The new building on one side plus an existing annex on the other side function as 'seismic bookends,' supporting the original 1902 structure without intrusive intervention."

The three-building complex will create 100,000 square feet of Class A office space and ground-level retail space. The three separate and very different buildings will share the same address. Bloszies also designed the neighboring Ritz-Carlton project at 690 Market Street.

McKinley said that the new structure's steel frame was attached to the 1902 building, which survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He noted that the 1902 brick structure's steel reinforcements were within one-half an inch of where they were supposed to be. The new structure will feature structural steel with concrete shear walls. The building, developed by One Kearny LLC, was topped off in May.

One Kearny required drilling down pile caps McKinley described as micro piles—grouted rebar driven down 85 feet. The building's location posed some challenges for the contractor. McKinley said that deliveries had to be well coordinated and done behind the building on Geary, since One Kearny is on the corner where Geary and Kearny meet Market Street. There was no way to place a crane on Market Street with its Muni lines, or on Geary, so the crane was erected within the building's envelope.

McKinley said about 50 to 60 construction workers were on the job, including ironworkers, carpenters, laborers, electricians, and welders. He said DPR uses union sub-contractors but also does its own concrete work and drywall installation.

The annex added to the bank building in the 1960s to brace the 1902 building on the east was designed by architect Charles Moore and was preserved as an example of his work. Bloszies said, "We've been careful to provide modern design that preserves the character of the old building. When you're coming up Third Street, this is a visible site. We wanted to fill in the missing tooth (at 710 Market) in a way that melds the new and the old. Our new building takes its design cues from both architectural styles while maintaining its 21st century timestamp."