Levi's Plaza - History

History

Levi Strauss Plaza was developed by Interland Development Corp., owned by Jim Joseph, the franchise owner of the Los Angeles football franchise of the United States Football League. Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum Inc. (HOK) designed the structure. Levi & Strauss Co. did the interior design, and Gensler and Associates supervised Levi Strauss's efforts. The construction of the 763,000-square-foot (70,900 m2), seven story facility began in 1979 and was completed in 1981. $110 million was spent on the exterior building, and Levi Strauss spent $120 million on interior improvements.

Levi Strauss & Co. first moved to the facility in 1981.

Around 1995 arbitration proceedings between Levi Strauss and the owners occurred, due to negotiations over an increase in rent. Steve Ginsberg of the San Francisco Business Times said that some real estate insiders predicted that Levi Strauss may leave the complex due to the arbitration. The Levi Strauss company, in the 1990s, hired Staubach Co. so it could consider its headquarters options. Ginsberg said that despite the arbitration proceedings that previously took place, Levi Strauss "never seriously considered leaving" the City of San Francisco nor the Levi's Plaza complex.

In a two-year period until 1998 the company workforce had slightly to 1,700 employees. Ginsberg said that this was a reflection of a 1997 revenue slump.

In 1998 Levi Straus signed a letter of intent stating that it will renew its lease for 620,000 square feet (58,000 m2). In terms of the square footage, as of March 8, 1998 it is the largest lease deal in San Francisco of the 1990s. Because a decline in the company's workforce, the company reduced the amount of square footage that it held. Levi Strauss announced that it will invest several million additional dollars to renovate the complex, which at the time was 17 years old. The renovation work, scheduled to begin in 1999, was to affect all three major Levi's Plaza buildings, including the one housing the executive offices. Ginsberg said that the new "new, open look" design to be implemented in the renovations was to be "more conducive to team interaction."

In 2008 the San Francisco Business Times reported that Levi Strauss & Co. may consider moving the headquarters out of San Francisco once the lease in Levi's Plaza expired on December 31, 2012. In 2009 the company renewed its lease at the complex for a ten-year period; the company had 1,200 employees at the facility at the time. The new lease begins on January 1, 2013.