SF's Phelan Building Tosses Jewelers Out After 100 Years

Jewelry Discussion
41

Was there no contact with the City, using the Phelan Bldg as an
example of historic economic development worth supporting to
continue? Not to mention, the contribution of the existing tenants to
the San Francisco milieu. Where there no covenants for the building
use? Is there be no appeal to city councilmen? or public outcry?
Perhaps a wealthy San Fran building landowner would step up to the
plate to provide a visionary location.

Was no one aware of Thor history of corporate cultivation to have a
voice in the sale? It sounds all a gruesome surprise. I would think
collectively you have explored many avenues.

This is a very sad news for a vibrant collection of artist
entrepreneurs, family businesses, and renowned jewelers, for all the
businesses that rely upon them, and for the collective jewelry
community, patrons and producers. My sincere sympathy for the
passing of The Phelan era.

Best Wishes for your new chapters
Ruth Sladovich
New Orleans, LA

42

The Phelan building is not being singled out. All rents are sky
rocketing. The vultures are simply circling, looking for maximum
return. In spite of the idea that “corporations are people too”,
without a heart, they are more like Shelly’s Frankenstein. The
following is from the Chronical dated Dec 15, 2012:

The cost of occupying office space in San Francisco soared in 2012,
rising the most of any market in the world as tech companies such as
Salesforce. com and Mozilla Corp. fueled leasing in the city, a new
survey shows. Occupancy costs, which include rents plus local taxes
and service charges, surged 36.4 percent in downtown San Francisco,
hitting $90 a square foot in the year to Sept. 30, Los Angeles
broker CBRE Group said in its semiannual survey of world office
markets. That was the biggest jump among 133 areas globally. Demand
from technology industry tenants is combining with low vacancies and
limited new supply to increase rents in areas such as San Francisco
and suburban Seattle, which had the fourth-largest rise in occupancy
costs, at almost 22 percent. Those increases ran counter to much of
the global office market, where a recovery cooled as Europe’s debt
crisis deepened, banks made cutbacks andemerging-market growth
slowed, according to CBRE. “The U. S. high-tech sector has matured,
with new applications for even traditional businesses,” said Asieh
Mansour, CBRE’s head of research for the Americas. “That’s benefited
commercial real estate in San Francisco. This is where tech
companies are clustered, and where labor skill sets are located.” San
Francisco’s office vacancy rate has fallen by almost six percentage
points in two years to 9.7 percent as of Sept. 30, with leasing by
firms such as Hotwire, OpenTable and Pinterest in the third quarter,
CBRE said. Third in United States Globally, San Francisco’s office
market ranked 26th for costs. In the United States, it ranked third
behind midtown Manhattan, at $114.30 a square foot, and Washington,
D. C., at $94.51. Central Hong Kong was the most expensive location
in the world at $246.30 a square foot, followed by London’s West End
at $219.81 a square foot and Tokyo’s Marunouchi Otemachi at $197.27.
Hong Kong, though, also had the biggest decrease in office occupancy
costs, with an almost 18 percent decline, CBREsaid. Twelve of the
top 20 most expensive locations for office space were in the
Asia-Pacific region, where multinational firms are searching for the
best buildings in the priciest areas to locate head offices, said
Mansour, who is based in San Francisco. “Those markets attracted
corporate headquarters because of the labor available,” she said.
Peninsula also rises Jakarta saw the second-biggest cost increase
after downtown San Francisco, with a 28.7 percent gain to $54 a
square foot, according to the brokerage. The Peninsula - which
includes Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City - ranked third, up
28.6 percent to $62 a square foot. It was followed by suburban
Seattle, which includes Bellevue, with a 21.8percent jump to $38 a
square foot; and Beijing’s Finance Street, which climbed 19.7 percent
to $180 a square foot. The costs take into accountlocal variances in
currency and lease terms, Mansour said. In San Francisco,
Salesforce’s January rental agreement at 50 Fremont St., the city’s
biggest leasing deal of 2012, helped spur a third year of occupancy
gains, according to CBRE. The company, the largest maker of online
customer-management software, took about 400,000 square feet in the
South of Market high-rise, at a cost of about $339 million over 18
years, according to a Jan. 6 regulatory filing. Other technology
leases included Mozilla’s deal at Hills Plaza on the Embarcadero, an
area where rental agreements have been as high as $70 a square foot
in the fourth quarter; and Meraki Inc.'s lease of 110,000 square feet
in Mission Bay, where recent asking rents were about $60 a square
foot, according to CBRE. Mozilla develops the Firefox Web browser,
while Meraki makes tools to manage Wi-Fi networks and security. San
Francisco’s gains probably will slow in 2013, as will Asia-Pacific
expansion that’s advanced “like gangbusters,” Mansour said. London’s
status as a global financial hub should offset austerity measures in
the United Kingdom, she said. “The tech sector is viewed as more
favorable and more stable today,” Mansour said of San Francisco.
“But growth will slow because there’s already saturation in the
market.” Dan Levy is a Bloomberg writer. Lee (the saw guy) Lee (the
saw guy)

43

I am reading your problems about your SF. trade building. We have a
trade builing, one of basically three in Toronto, Canada.

The mighty powerful one called “21 Dundas Square”, it has 16 floors
of offices just like yours. But it is being remodelled totally, the
renovations will take about 3 years!

The rear of this bldg. will be torn down and in its place will be a
33 floor retail-condo-hotel. The jewellers offices will still be
there even midst of this dust & controlled chaos!

The landlords ‘want’ the jewellers to stay there. It is almost a
landmark bldg for the city trade and country wide. I used to have an
office there for a while, but the rent was starting to sky-rocket
plus the maintenance!

I bailed out, and many of my friends still want to stay in this
bldg, in leiu of the slowing down of the jewellery trade and along
with the economy.

There are no artists there to speak of, only small businesses. Many
of them are folks who just need a place to work and create. The gist
of this story is that even with jewellers, the closeness of the
friendship is that problems are being taken care of. This landlord
listens and things get sorted out!

My close friend wanted to buy the whole bldg for $13.5 mill, but
bowed out! He would have been such a great (jewellery) owner! I
totally sympathize with all of your many grievances and share your
stress & anxiety.

I only wish somehow you can resolve this problem. fondest regards
over the coming holiday season.

Gerry!

44

If ready to move on from sunny California it would really make my day
if the Revere Acadamy, and any of your related businesses from the
Phelan building, would look at Buffalo, NY or the area around it for
relocation. Lots ofspace available. For that matter, in my building
in Fredonia, NY there is a decent amount of space available. In fact
I could get you into up to, oh,10,000 sq feet for say, 90 cents a
foot. There may be quite a bit more space than that available, and I
may be able to come down a bit. Build your own interior walls. Drop
me a note if anyone is interested. 2nd floor or basement, I’m hanging
onto the first floor. Not a great retail location due to limited
parking, but good for manufacturing or teaching. Ben Brauchler

45

Thank you for saying this. I, too, as a Minnesotan, who has lived in
other places throughout my life, have come to appreciate the art
culture in Minnesota (you can go back home again).

We have cold and snow in the winter, but we also have massive
machines to move that snow around and very efficient housing codes
to keep out the cold. Our summers can be very hot and humid at times,
but there is always a light at the end of that tunnel (yes we do
have climate control in the summer).

We keep a pretty low profile here, but I think that is what helps our
art community thrive.

I do hope the Phelan residents band together and find some place to
group together again. Wish I had a magic wand, but it is up to those
involved to make it happen - most of us would be willing to lend
assistance, if need be.

The whole story was heartbreaking to me.

46

It has been fascinating, watching from the sidelines as dozens of
Orchidians and others post their reactions, support, suggestions and
comments about the demise of the core of San Francisco’s jewelry
community.

For all of my colleagues and me, being summarily evicted is a
disaster, forcing us to reevaluate our lives and businesses. Many
enterprises will not survive. Moving is too costly and the results
uncertain, especially without the support of trade commerce within
the community. And there is no chance of regrouping this community
of 150 individual jewelry business and services anywhere else.

We are individual entrepreneurs and business owners from around the
globe. The notion of somehow organizing these artist/entrepreneurs
and collectively buying a building is beyond the imagination.

The suggestion that we are too meek and that we should fight back is
well intended but naive. Thor Equities is GIANT and there is no way
to match them with lawyers or injunctions or anything else.

Suggestions that the Phelan Building’s tenants should protest or
that we should garner community support and get help from heavy
hitters and that we should sue, are all well meaning but not really
feasible. This is not the time to start a protest movement or to
target anyone who might be responsible. I want to devote my energy
to the future.

The times have changed, clearly, and jewelers must adapt. Our point
in sending out the press release was not to stir things up or
somehow stop the exodus. Leaving is certain. We wanted others to see
what is happening to this 100-year-old community of artists and
makers. If people think this is fine, okay. If not, then they will
do something about it in some way.

Christine sent the press release to almost 100-targeted media and
industry recipients. That was ten days ago. Countless friends and
supporters have responded. But so far no heavy hitters are jumping
in to save us. We received an email from the San Francisco Chronicle
saying they were passing along the press release for consideration.
And we got a call from someone in SF government saying that the
Mayor knew about this and they would try to help. .

The outpouring of support from past students and the community has
been very comforting. It is wonderful to hear from so many people
whose lives we have touched and care about this. And I know that
many more people are aware of the situation and are pulling for us
all. Thank you again.

At this point, all I can say about the Revere Academy is stay tuned.

With appreciation,
Alan Revere

47

Shame you all didn’t buy the building yourselves and organize it
like a co-op.

j
Esta Jo Schifter
Shifting Metal
shiftingmetal dot com

48

Continue from:

I have taught at the Alan Revere Academy Master Symposium series on
three occasions. The last was with John Cogswell. Of all the schools
and craft centers where I have taught, I have always considered
Alan’s the most enjoyable. Top notch facilities, great staff,
downtown San Francisco.

How sad that at a time when craft is starting to show a re-emergence
as a viable way to make a living and as a vehicle for self
expression, it is summarily dismissed in the name of Corporate greed.

I know Alan. I know he is a professional and loves what he has built
not only for his staff and students, but for the metalsmithing and
jewelry community at large. I expect we will see his shingle on
another space in the not too distant future.

James Carter
James Carter School of Jewelry Arts
Carrboro, N. C.

49

What an incredible tragedy! What a heartbreaking story. I’ll never
understand how people can do something that they have to know is
wrong and have to know is hurting so many good people and ruining
their community and livelihood, yet they go ahead and do it anyway,
just for the money.

Mark

50

Guys

“Just for the money?”

I am sorry but some of the Phelan letters of support are sounding a
little too “otherworldly/Burning Man” for me.

I do feel bad for the folks (many friends) who are being evicted,
but to accuse a business of being evil just because it is large and
or making money is crazy. It is the very nature of business to be
profit driven, including the big businesses in this world that are so
easy for “Occupiers” to vilify.

Small business’s are not inherently superior to large firms.

The “little” businesses in the Phelan building can move, and have,
if it made business sense for them to do it. I did. Shouldn’t you
then feel sorry for the landlord? Am I an evil businessman because I
look to make a profit from EVERY single customer that comes into my
store? Actually, there are a lot of things we as small business folks
do “just for the money”.

I will not size someone’s ring for free and I have a right to charge
as much as my customer is willing to pay.

That is freedom, like it or not.

Now the games Thor has appeared to play with the tenants was awful,
I will concede. There is no legitimate place for head games or false
agreements in business, but obviously it is always there. Not just
in SF. Heck it must be the plot of thousands of movies and books.

But legitimate business is about profits, and that is honorable.

Sam

51 
Just for the money?

Hi Sam, I have been self employed most of my life, always had
employees and have always believed in and felt good about making a
profit. I have found that most people who are in business and who
have a profit motive, will still do the right thing. Even when when
it’s less profitable than doing the wrong thing.

I wasn’t there, but from what I’ve read it seems like Thor did the
wrong thing, “just for the money.” Rather than working to preserve
the long standing community of jewelry related businesses in their
building, which would have continued to both be profitable for them
and build good will with that community. They chose to aggressively
force those people out. They didn’t think of them as people, only as
square footage and dollars.

You say, legitimate business is about profits, and that is honorable.
I think legitimate business is about more than that if that business
wants to be honorable, at it has nothing to do with the “Occupy”
mentality. When you have a business you have broader responsibilities
than being profitable. You have responsibilities to your customers,
employees, community and your tenants if you have them. When you stop
looking at them as people and start seeing them only as obstacles to
your enrichment, that’s when you go from being a business that is
admired to one that is vilified.

Mark

52

Hi Mark

You make a fair point.

The aspects of “good” business you refer to, like taking care of
customers and tenants and all, is what I think of as long term
investment of a business. Happy, satisfied, contented customers or
employees is definitely part of any successful business. Still it
boils down to profit. You won’t be caring for anyone if you can’t pay
your bills.

Thanks
Sam

53

Sorry my reply was delayed…This is TRAGIC!!! Talented Artisans
already must hunt hard to find a landlord who allows their type work
because theyuse “scary chemistry and who knows what”,like a lot of
GAS and investmentfor casting that literally scare the “bgeezus” out
of many an uninformed “lay” non-jeweler or a real estate management
company’s owners. Not so for the retail shop that just sells
finished products made in China. “Harumph!” Yes, mass production on
a large scale is done in companies that make things like class rings
and the run of the mill stuff, but the highly trained experienced
True artisans who know the old master’s methods should NOT be made
into a “dying breed.” They MAY WELL need real space to execute their
unique craft and teach like the esteemed Revere Academy has done for
so long. Now are we only going to have GIA in Carlsbad to teach in
this state at that level and produce more fine gemologists and
accredited bench jewelers, who do more than basic repairs? So many
of their students come from afar and pay their hefty fees, but many
others just want a seminar they can afford. Those couple community
colleges that helped provide that are not well funded now and lost
good instructors. Many jewelers need space for forging and noisy
work. Running kilns and making a racket for mokume gane would not
set well in many commercial buildings or home studios, when it is
even possibleto make a home studio. We all know a small studio in
the correct zoning atan affordable price is a tough thing to find.
WE know how to do things safely and finding many locations to
relocate all these jewelers will dilute the Arts for which San
Francisco is famous. It’s really a shame some other Guild type group
could not have bought the whole Phelan and remodeled it suitably
just for artists instead of THOR. I’m surprised I had not heard this
knows theright studio space is at a premium in the area. Their fine
arts classes and facilities are scattered around at locations
besides 800 Chestnut, not soneatly tucked into one big Phelan, like
these jewelers

I hope no artisans find themselves without studio space, and nobody
can sellyour studio out from under you. My personal story reads on a
small scale, but I sympathize with all jewelers who have the studio
pulled out from under them when in an ideal arrangement. Illness
forced my changes. I relocatednorth to where I had more studio space
and there was no association to deal with, then had to move to where
my studio space away from home become exorbitantly costly and
talented jewelers did depart. People (who obviously had learned I’m
also a jeweler, though a retired geologist) are so nosy andignorant
where I now live that the first thing said to me about my obviously
large, better than average “Tuffshed,” used for all my dirty garden
workand storing my typical home stuff and my ancient machines and
camping/fishing gear was a very nosy, righteous “Just what do you
plan to DO in theree?” comment from my new "neighborly neighbors,
"Shocked, I said, “Well ithas a potting shelf, so I guess I could
pot plants”…which I do, with my orchid collection. However, it
would make an excellent Jeweler’s Studio, butthere’s no heat in a
shed. I would like to work on of my old hobbies, notjewelry, per se,
in there like everyone else does;.a couple. neighbors surrounding me
use theirs for work from their businesses and one drills and saws
and bangs on carpentry any time, even keeping me from sleep. But my
longtime other rock cutting/carving hobby sits idle. (I oil very old
machines anyway.) I know from experience that having one’s PO Box
for business and a far off vault for jewelers’ materials can be a
big nuisance. Also, finding a new space while the economy is poor
and sales for some might be down can be a financial burden. My own
output has been down due to health issues, but I will continue to
create art jewelry somehow and wish all jewelers have the space and
circumstances to create their original work!

I hope someone will update me when the impact of the Phelan Building
loss has been assessed and people are relocated. San Francisco needs
its ARTISANS! I loved the city when I lived in the area. I’d hoped
to take seminars at the Revere Academy in that old location.

Leah Hertel Gundy- Art Jewelry by Leah, Santa Barbara, CA

54

Dear Leah & All,

Here is the newest Update. We have all settled in at new locations.
A bunch of us are at The James Bong Building, TheFlood Building or
at The Shreve Building in San Francisco. The Revere Academy will
soon be across the street at The Humboldt Savings Building. Some
have chosen to move out of the city. Life goes on !!

We here at 833 Market St. are quite happy and are occupying the
fifth floor- -That means Donivan & Co., Maggiora Jlry. Co. Good
Neighbor Gems, Kim’s Jewelry Supply, Roman Ly, L&Z Jlrs. City
Jewelers, Fantastic, Jose Sanchez & Custom Designs II. Soon there
will be more, as The Phelan Bldg. under Thor Equities, is about to
"terminate" some people)-:

Forus, this may have a silver lining as we get exemptions with SFFD.
They think of us as being evicted Their (Phelan) loss is our
gain!!!

55

Congratulations! You were handed a nasty, disgusting lemon and you
have made beautiful lemon aid. Best of luck!

MA