San Francisco's latest and perhaps most glorious restoration is the 1890 De Young Building that was the original home of The Chronicle has now been converted to a Ritz Carlton after having been an undignified office building for the last 43 years.
"Eleven stories of ruddy sandstone and brick command the corner of Kearny and Market streets every bit as robustly as they did in 1890, when the building that then housed The Chronicle opened as the tallest tower on the West Coast.
To finance the rebirth, city officials let the developer put a tower in back.
You'd never guess that for 40 years the walls were hidden behind drab metal panels with a pseudo-modern look...the interior was gutted long ago and the facade was scarred by a skin of metal and glass tattooed into place in 1962, when the owner at the time tried to make it more attractive to potential tenants."
"Restoring the facade wasn't a matter of just stripping off the 60s cladding. The vertical bay at the front of the building was painstakingly recrafted and the stonework was repaired with stones cut from the same quarry as the orignal."
"The masonry facade is virtually all that's left of the original, designed by Chicago firm Burnham and Root for Chronicle publisher M. H. de Young.
But now the red bricks conceal something much different from a newspaper plant: Behind and above them sit the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences."
[Editor's note: Read chronology of De Young in the article, starting in 1887, the 1906 earthquake, to today;and see photo history of it in Curbed SF link, including photos of 1890 building, the 1962 office conversion, and the current restoration].
Thanks to John Carpenter
Read the full story: S.F.'s restored de Young building stunning at street level
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Colorado’s Largest Data Center Could Rise Next to Homes — Without a Public Hearing
The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
'This is going to be painful:’ Virginia stares down $1.7 billion funding gap for highway maintenance
The state may address the deficit by shifting $290 million from its construction budget to maintenance projects.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello