A visit to San Francisco, one of the loveliest, most vibrant cities in the world, stays with you long after you leave. Whether it’s your first or your fiftieth visit to the city, its images, elegance and energy lingers within you. From its perch on the edge of the Pacific and its sweeping views of all it surveys, San Francisco stirs the soul. With its mix of Victorian and modern architecture, its status as a vital financial and commercial center, to its world-famous arts venues--and even the iconic clanging calls of its picturesque cable cars--San Francisco never fails to delight its visitors and inhabitants.
For those who have surrendered to the magic of the city, there now is a unique opportunity to own a part of it. In the heart of San Francisco’s waterfront, the world-famous, historic Ghirardelli Square is being transformed into the city’s first private residence club. Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square is offering 1/10th ownership interests in luxuriously appointed residences that also offer a piece of history. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. in partnership with JMA Ventures, is developing 54 one, two and three bedroom luxury residences on the waterfront square. JMA Ventures is also refurbishing its marketplace into an exclusive enclave of high-end boutiques offering discriminating salon and spa services, fine dining, and artisanal food products. The residence club opens in spring 2008, and retail tenants are already established or in the process of moving in, such as Marché on the Square, Kara’s Cupcakes, Wattle Creek Winery, Cellar 360, O’Neill’s Irish Pub, and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
“Ghirardelli Square, with its historic significance and spectacular location, represents the quintessential Fairmont Heritage Place,” said Greg Doman, Fairmont’s Vice President, Fairmont Heritage Place. “We believe the high caliber and outstanding location of this development will set new standards for urban private residence clubs.”
Entrepreneurial Legacy
If Domingo Ghirardelli and his sons could see the Square now, they’d surely appreciate the importance of its location for business and leisure pursuits. In 1892, the chocolate magnate purchased the Pioneer Woolen Mill building where Civil War uniforms had once been manufactured, on the full city block the square still occupies today, for his then-growing food products business. The Ghirardellis soon expanded their manufacturing capability with new factory buildings based on the 15th century French Chateau de Blois. They embraced then-progressive concepts that promoted the factory as an aesthetic and hygienic workplace—neither of which was common in 19th century San Francisco. As a result, the buildings’ designs to today’s eyes appear picturesque, even whimsical, built at the turn of the last century when beautiful design in industrial buildings was considered a civic value.
Today’s Cocoa Building was the first in addition in 1900, followed by the Power House and the Apartment Building (for employee housing) in 1915. The iconic 15-foot high, lighted Ghirardelli sign was added in 1923 after two floors were added to the Cocoa Building. Combined, the buildings of Ghirardelli Square have created an architecturally cohesive core that has proven irresistible for redevelopment, especially today’s transformation for upscale retail and residential ownership.
A Pied de Terre avec Histoire
Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square is creating a new urban chemistry, one that reshapes how visitors will enjoy their extended visits to San Francisco. Now in the 21st century, the Square enters a new chapter, one that responds to San Francisco’s attraction as a premier destination for prestigious second and third home ownerships.
“Ghirardelli is a very special place – a uniquely intimate physical space, and one of the most beautiful locations in the city,” says Todd Chapman of JMA. “Our vision for reenergizing the Square carefully preserves its wonderful attributes and historic landmark status while creating a new residential venue that benefits its immediate neighborhood and the entire city.”
Only steps away from Fisherman’s Wharf, each residence at Fairmont Heritage Place includes the finest elements of design and construction combined with the interior finishes found typically at luxury resort hotels, such as an expansive floor plan suitable for impressive entertaining, state-of-the-art kitchens with exceptional amenities that can include wine refrigerators and built-in espresso machines, and the latest amenities in business facilities. Ownership entitles members to a rare level of personalized attention, including doormen, personal shoppers, airport valet, childcare, room service delivery, private chefs, golf and tennis pros, spa staff, and restaurants that stock members’ favorite vintages. All of this comfort and service comes in a historic setting with original brick walls, wood floors, 14-foot ceilings and Bay views that go on forever.
Membership at Heritage Place at Ghirardelli also provides owners with access to the Fairmont’s legendary resorts in fabled castles, secluded lodges, modern retreats and private residence clubs located around the world. It provides all the pleasures and rewards of owning a spectacular vacation property without the burdens of maintaining a traditional second home. For more information, visit Fairmontatghirardelli.com.
Ghirardelli Square
(Continued History – 1960s to Present)
In the early 1960s, Ghirardelli Chocolate was sold and production moved out of the city. In a nascent wave of urban revival and as a protest against the high rise Fontana apartments adjacent to the Ghirardelli factory, San Franciscans William Matson Roth and his mother, Mrs. William P. Roth, bought the site in order to save it from certain destruction at a time when utility was favored over aesthetics in commercial development.
In an innovative bold stroke, Roth’s architects, Wurster Bernardi and Emmons and landscape architect Lawrence Halperin, capitalized on the richness and strength of the old factory buildings. They revisioned fanciful brick exteriors as a dramatic backdrop for a high-end, specialty shopping center—an American interpretation of a European village plaza in the United States’ most European city. Ghirardelli Square has enjoyed over 40 years as one of this country’s premier retail destinations.
