SAN FRANCISCO — Forge Development Partners has started its project to convert the historic Humboldt Bank, an office building located at 785 Market St. in San Francisco into workforce housing. Forge plans to begin construction on 785 Market Street in early 2025, contingent on pending legislation.
Planned renovations will preserve the 19-story building’s historic façade, ground-floor retail space and Baroque-style dome, while upgrading the infrastructure of the building to provide a high-quality scaled living experience for middle-income residents.
Upon completion, 785 Market Street, which was originally built in 1908, will feature 124 apartments. The project aligns with the city’s housing production initiative to bring 30,000 new residences and students to downtown San Francisco by 2030 and targets a zero net carbon and energy solution. Forge is partnering with Cordia, a San Francisco-based energy solution company that purifies groundwater, to produce steam that will be piped through 785 Market Street and used for space heating, domestic hot water and air conditioning.