Richard Chu, who will be the chef at the restaurant at the two story rooftop restaurant, entertainment venue and event space at 88 Spear, waits to catch an elevator after visiting the space under construction during a tour on Thursday.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
Alto88, the rooftop restaurant and event space being constructed on the top of a 12-story downtown San Francisco office building at 88 Spear St., is still a few months from completion.
But already the owners have developed its signature cocktail: the First Crane.
A mix of all California spirits — heirloom cider, apple brandy, alpine vermouth, green chile bitters — the concoction is named for the fact that the construction crane at Spear and Mission Streets is the first to to be erected in post-pandemic downtown San Francisco.
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On Thursday the developers — Philip Spiegel of Please Management and Cyrus Sanandaji of Presidio Bay — led a hard hat tour of the 10,000 square foot rooftop space where the steel is still being put in place. Please Management General Manager Hernan Martinez was serving First Cranes to guests.
Cyrus Sanandaji, left to right, founder and managing principal of Presidio Bay Ventures, and Phil Spiegel, principal of Holbrook House, talk during a tour of the two story rooftop restaurant, entertainment venue and event space coming to 88 Spear in San Francisco.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
The project represents the first test of Sanandaji’s theory that in the future companies will be attracted to what he calls “office resorts,” work spaces that come with the sort of amenities found in five-star hotels: top notch gyms and spas, golf simulators and luxurious restaurants, art and cultural events. Places where workers want to gather and socialize.
Sanandaji said he doesn’t buy the conventional wisdom that the current office market is defined by ”the flight to quality.”
“We actually think it’s about the flight to experience, the kind of human engagement and social dynamic rooted in hospitality and gathering,” he said.
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A rendering of a balcony at the upcoming two story rooftop restaurant, entertainment venue and event space at 88 Spear in San Francisco.
Jeff Schlarb Design Studio
While 88 Spear is still a work in progress, earlier this month Presidio Bay and Please Management announced their next office resort project: the former federal reserve building at 301 Battery.
A 1924 Beaux-Arts building with a colonnade on the lower floors and a grand banking hall, Presidio Bay and partner Bridges Capital took ownership after buying the distressed loan and arranging a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure transfer. The previous owner, New York investor RFR Holding, had bought the property in 2020 for about $143 million.
Renderings of the future rooftop restaurant and bar at 88 Spear is seen against the view of the Bay Bridge during a tour of the two story rooftop restaurant, entertainment venue and event space under construction at 88 Spear.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
Presidio Bay is looking for tenants for about 155,000 square feet of vacant office space, while Please Management will operate an events space in the banking hall.
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Sanandaji said the hope is to resurrect the old bank as “a cornerstone and marquee venue in the arts and civic culture of the city.”
“You don’t need to create something that didn’t exist before, you just need to lean into it,” Sanandaji said.
Spiegel said both the Spear and the Reserve have similarities to the Holbrooke House at One Sansome St., which his firm also operates.
The Reserve will be an office building where the event space becomes a draw and amenity for the tenants. The Spear and Alto88 will have a similar vibe to the Holbrooke House, except that it will be on the roof of a building overlooking the Bay Bridge.
Surrounding buildings can be seen through the frame of the two story rooftop restaurant, entertainment venue and event space under construction at 88 Spear.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
“We want to make it feel like a club but there is no membership,” Spiegel said. “You live in the city, you work in the city, you’re visiting the city — that’s the membership.”
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Presidio Bay bought 88 Spear in 2023 for $41 million and is investing another $100 million into the property. So far the developer has snagged leases with Norwest Ventures for a full floor, while Arsicault Bakery and the co-working group Canopy have leased space on the ground floor.
“We’ve got a handful of other discussions going on right now that would effectively take up the remainder of the office space,” Sanandaji said.
Dining and Cooking