San Francisco’s historic Wilson Building has changed hands, giving a 120-year-old Market Street survivor a fresh role in the city’s uneven comeback. The turn-of-the-century structure, which was converted into 67 apartments, is now part of a new investment bet on downtown housing. It is the kind of deal that suggests apartment demand may be recovering faster than the office market.
The acquisition was reported today by CoStar News, which identified GTIS Partners and GreyBrick Partners as the buyers. Raintree Partners, which oversaw the building’s major residential restoration, is also listed among the companies connected to the property. The Wilson sits in the Mid-Market stretch of downtown, an area that has spent years waiting for the promised revival to become more than a rendering.
The Wilson Turned An Old Commercial Shell Into Housing
The building’s residential makeover came during San Francisco’s last tech boom and required a $17 million restoration. According to Build Group, the nine-story project preserved an historic staircase, restored the terra-cotta facade and created 67 apartments with amenities including a rooftop terrace, gym and bike storage.
That adaptive-reuse history gives the latest sale some extra weight. The Wilson was not built as a modern apartment complex; it was a commercial building that was reworked into housing when the city’s earlier technology boom made downtown residential conversions look like a sure thing.
A Market Street Landmark With A Long Memory
San Francisco’s own records describe the Wilson Building as a contributing property in the Market Street Theatre and Loft National Register Historic District, with a Byzantine terra-cotta facade that survived the 1906 earthquake. The Board of Supervisors also approved a Mills Act historical property contract for 973 Market Street in 2017, according to City and County of San Francisco records…