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Map: 23 Academy of Art Properties, and Their Alleged Violations

The city's controversial art school owns some of the most beautiful historic buildings in San Francisco — most of which are alleged to be in major violation

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Although San Francisco alleges that 33 of the 40 buildings Academy of Art University owns in the city are in violation of every property law on the books, the present litigation, filed last week by city attorney Dennis Herrera, names only 23 of them. (Speaking of lawyers: None of these allegations have been proven, and we are still waiting for AAU return our inquiries for comment.) Be that as it may, the AAU portfolio has some of the most striking historical buildings in the city.

Here's a look at the contentious properties, and the charges against them.

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Coco Chanel Hall

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An 11,500 square foot property circa 1900, used by the Academy as residential housing for women. The full name is the Coco Chanel Women's Empowerment Hall. The building is zoned for hotel and apartment use, but not for student housing (the same complaint leveled against all of the subsequent AAU dorms). Legalizing this (alleged) misuse of the building would require a vote from the Board of Supervisors.

Frank Lloyd Wright Hall

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This 10,000-square-foot building dates to 1911 and was sold to the Academy in 1998 for $815,000 ($1.2 million today). The Wright hall is the Academy's official gender-neutral dorm, for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning residents, as well as their allies."

Mary Cassatt Hall

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This is a 7,800-square-foot Victorian from 1912 that set the Academy back $2 million in 1998 ($2.9 million today). That was quite a flip for seller Albion Pacific Properties, who bought it the previous year for $980,000. It's a designated city landmark, presently used as a co-ed dorm.

Ansel Adams Building

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Sibling building to the Mary Cassatt Hall, this was previously a restaurant with an apartment on top. The Academy converted it into grad student dorms in 2005 and slapped the present name on it, paying $2.1 million (the equivalent of $2.56 million now). The "tropical foliage and a koi fish-filled pond" advertised on the AAU site are presumably holdovers from its eatery days.

Auguste Rodin Hall

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One of the big ones, this is the Academy's men's residence hall, which includes a cafe, game rooms, pool, and lounge. The 124-unit, 36,000 square foot building dates to 1910, and has been in the Academy portfolio since 1995. Previously it was the St Anthony's Elder Care Facility.

Leonardo da Vinci Apartments

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This five story, 1913 brick number has 55 units and set the Academy back $6.3 million in 1999 ($9.86 million today). Now a dorm, it was previously an apartment building.

The International House

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This co-ed dorm houses the Academy's international students (89 units for 182 residents). Previously, it was the Beresford Hotel, until AAU picked it up in 2000.

Star Motel

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God forbid Lombard Street should have one less hotel. The Academy converted it to student housing in 2007, which actually is permitted under the zoning, but requires specific permitting that city attorney Dennis Herrera says they never bothered to file for after purchase.

Commodore Hotel

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This one was a merchant seaman hotel from 1928. When AAU bought it in 2006, they knocked the last word off of the name, dubbing it "The Commodore," a 114-unit dorm.

Morgan Auditorium

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One of the Academy's most beautiful holdings, a beaux arts building circa 1913 that's a registered city landmark. Which is why it's such a serious problem if the Academy did, in fact, alter the interior without the approval of the Historic Preservation Commission, as the city attorney alleges. The building, previously a church, now serves as an auditorium, plus the arts history and liberal arts departments.

St Brigid Church

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Another landmark in the Academy portfolio, this Gothic cathedral, circa 1900, closed in 1993 by order of the Archbishop of San Francisco, partly because of lack of funds to seismically retrofit the 90-year-old ceiling. The Academy procured it in 2005, allegedly sans conditional use permits. It presently serves as an industrial design studio and auditorium.

625 Gallery

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No Bay Area shopping spree is complete without a Julia Morgan building. The 1918 Morgan YWCA is the Academy's photography gallery, as well as darkrooms, and studios for MFA students. The upper floors are housing for 129 students (in 65 rooms), along with a theater, pool, and gym. None of which was approved by the Historic Preservation Commission, which is a big problem when it comes to a noted 100-year-old Julia Morgan design.

The Cannery

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Another plum acquisition, a 130,000 Fisherman's Wharf locale from 1907 right at the end of Hyde Street, which was of course a former cannery but more recently a nightclub called the Parlor. The Academy uses it as gallery space for students' works, allegedly without proper permits.

1069 Pine Street

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A comparably small fry, this squat, four-unit apartment building (overshadowed by its Pine Street neighbors on either side) was built in 1921 and runs about 1,900 square feet. The residential zoned building is now a gym and school clubhouse office, after the Academy bought it in 2000.

601 Brannan Street

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Home to a dotcom until 2007, this is the Academy's architecture library, as well as a furniture shop, web design lab, "live animal illustration studio," and also a skate park of all things. This building is zoned for arts use (among other things), but the skate park presumably doesn't make the cut.

60 Federal Street

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The Academy's printmaking, silkscreen, letterpress, lithograph, book arts, and framing studio in the Design District, over 99,000 square feet in a 1912 building. It's supposed to be office space, but the city alleges that the Academy never bothered getting permission to change its use.

1849 Van Ness Avenue

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A 63,600-square-foot building dating back to to 1920. Previously an auto showroom and furniture store (seemingly the entire reason Van Ness Avenue was paved), it's now largely Academy studio space. The city says the Academy never bothered to obtain conditional use authorization. Also, in a act of brazen and flagrant lawlessness, they put up a canopy sans permit.

2295 Taylor Street

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A onetime GAP store, the San Francisco Art Institute was once authorized to add a third floor, but the permits expired before construction happened, and they sold it off to the Academy. While it's zoned for commercial use, the AAU uses the first floor as gallery and office space, leaving the second floor vacant. They're also on the hook for alleged parking space violations.

2300 Stockton Street

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A 43,000-square-foot building, circa 1970, this space was once the Otis Elevator Company. Bought in 1991, it now serves as the Academy's Fashion and Visual Merchandising labs. The city says the Academy never obtained building permits for any of the work done on the building or for the signage.

466 Townsend Street

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A data center that the Academy converted partly into sound stages and acting studios for their cinema department, it is intended to be used as office, retail, or manufacturing space.

460 Townsend Street

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The onetime ALFA lighting company, a 16,000-square-foot building from 1915. Since 2009 it's been the Academy's interior architecture and design studio, which doesn't fit its zoning as PDR or commercial space. In 2010, AAU requested a hearing to review the zoning on this building. It lost, appealed, and lost again. Thus far, though, those decisions appear to be entirely cosmetic in effect.

2225 Jerrold Avenue

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One of the few relatively recent buildings in the catalog, a 63,000-square-foot warehouse built in 1982. The Academy paid $2 million for it in 1994 ($3.2 million in 2016 money). It is zoned for PDR use, which some of the Academy's facilities could conceivably qualify, but for the most part in the past they used it as a garage (including "antique fire vehicle storage"). Three years ago, they added in a weight room and basketball court.

950 Van Ness Avenue

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Two different buildings on the same block, connected internally and serving as garage space for AAU's classic car collection. (Until this legal filing, it was probably not apparent to most people exactly how many classic cars the Academy owns.) It was once an auto showroom and garage, which would seem to be pretty much the same thing it's being used as now, but the lawsuit insists that additional permitting is still required.

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Coco Chanel Hall

An 11,500 square foot property circa 1900, used by the Academy as residential housing for women. The full name is the Coco Chanel Women's Empowerment Hall. The building is zoned for hotel and apartment use, but not for student housing (the same complaint leveled against all of the subsequent AAU dorms). Legalizing this (alleged) misuse of the building would require a vote from the Board of Supervisors.

Frank Lloyd Wright Hall

This 10,000-square-foot building dates to 1911 and was sold to the Academy in 1998 for $815,000 ($1.2 million today). The Wright hall is the Academy's official gender-neutral dorm, for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning residents, as well as their allies."

Mary Cassatt Hall

This is a 7,800-square-foot Victorian from 1912 that set the Academy back $2 million in 1998 ($2.9 million today). That was quite a flip for seller Albion Pacific Properties, who bought it the previous year for $980,000. It's a designated city landmark, presently used as a co-ed dorm.

Ansel Adams Building

Sibling building to the Mary Cassatt Hall, this was previously a restaurant with an apartment on top. The Academy converted it into grad student dorms in 2005 and slapped the present name on it, paying $2.1 million (the equivalent of $2.56 million now). The "tropical foliage and a koi fish-filled pond" advertised on the AAU site are presumably holdovers from its eatery days.

Auguste Rodin Hall

One of the big ones, this is the Academy's men's residence hall, which includes a cafe, game rooms, pool, and lounge. The 124-unit, 36,000 square foot building dates to 1910, and has been in the Academy portfolio since 1995. Previously it was the St Anthony's Elder Care Facility.

Leonardo da Vinci Apartments

This five story, 1913 brick number has 55 units and set the Academy back $6.3 million in 1999 ($9.86 million today). Now a dorm, it was previously an apartment building.

The International House

This co-ed dorm houses the Academy's international students (89 units for 182 residents). Previously, it was the Beresford Hotel, until AAU picked it up in 2000.

Star Motel

God forbid Lombard Street should have one less hotel. The Academy converted it to student housing in 2007, which actually is permitted under the zoning, but requires specific permitting that city attorney Dennis Herrera says they never bothered to file for after purchase.

Commodore Hotel

This one was a merchant seaman hotel from 1928. When AAU bought it in 2006, they knocked the last word off of the name, dubbing it "The Commodore," a 114-unit dorm.

Morgan Auditorium

One of the Academy's most beautiful holdings, a beaux arts building circa 1913 that's a registered city landmark. Which is why it's such a serious problem if the Academy did, in fact, alter the interior without the approval of the Historic Preservation Commission, as the city attorney alleges. The building, previously a church, now serves as an auditorium, plus the arts history and liberal arts departments.

St Brigid Church

Another landmark in the Academy portfolio, this Gothic cathedral, circa 1900, closed in 1993 by order of the Archbishop of San Francisco, partly because of lack of funds to seismically retrofit the 90-year-old ceiling. The Academy procured it in 2005, allegedly sans conditional use permits. It presently serves as an industrial design studio and auditorium.

625 Gallery

No Bay Area shopping spree is complete without a Julia Morgan building. The 1918 Morgan YWCA is the Academy's photography gallery, as well as darkrooms, and studios for MFA students. The upper floors are housing for 129 students (in 65 rooms), along with a theater, pool, and gym. None of which was approved by the Historic Preservation Commission, which is a big problem when it comes to a noted 100-year-old Julia Morgan design.

The Cannery

Another plum acquisition, a 130,000 Fisherman's Wharf locale from 1907 right at the end of Hyde Street, which was of course a former cannery but more recently a nightclub called the Parlor. The Academy uses it as gallery space for students' works, allegedly without proper permits.

1069 Pine Street

A comparably small fry, this squat, four-unit apartment building (overshadowed by its Pine Street neighbors on either side) was built in 1921 and runs about 1,900 square feet. The residential zoned building is now a gym and school clubhouse office, after the Academy bought it in 2000.

601 Brannan Street

Home to a dotcom until 2007, this is the Academy's architecture library, as well as a furniture shop, web design lab, "live animal illustration studio," and also a skate park of all things. This building is zoned for arts use (among other things), but the skate park presumably doesn't make the cut.

60 Federal Street

The Academy's printmaking, silkscreen, letterpress, lithograph, book arts, and framing studio in the Design District, over 99,000 square feet in a 1912 building. It's supposed to be office space, but the city alleges that the Academy never bothered getting permission to change its use.

1849 Van Ness Avenue

A 63,600-square-foot building dating back to to 1920. Previously an auto showroom and furniture store (seemingly the entire reason Van Ness Avenue was paved), it's now largely Academy studio space. The city says the Academy never bothered to obtain conditional use authorization. Also, in a act of brazen and flagrant lawlessness, they put up a canopy sans permit.

2295 Taylor Street

A onetime GAP store, the San Francisco Art Institute was once authorized to add a third floor, but the permits expired before construction happened, and they sold it off to the Academy. While it's zoned for commercial use, the AAU uses the first floor as gallery and office space, leaving the second floor vacant. They're also on the hook for alleged parking space violations.

2300 Stockton Street

A 43,000-square-foot building, circa 1970, this space was once the Otis Elevator Company. Bought in 1991, it now serves as the Academy's Fashion and Visual Merchandising labs. The city says the Academy never obtained building permits for any of the work done on the building or for the signage.

466 Townsend Street

A data center that the Academy converted partly into sound stages and acting studios for their cinema department, it is intended to be used as office, retail, or manufacturing space.

460 Townsend Street

The onetime ALFA lighting company, a 16,000-square-foot building from 1915. Since 2009 it's been the Academy's interior architecture and design studio, which doesn't fit its zoning as PDR or commercial space. In 2010, AAU requested a hearing to review the zoning on this building. It lost, appealed, and lost again. Thus far, though, those decisions appear to be entirely cosmetic in effect.

2225 Jerrold Avenue

One of the few relatively recent buildings in the catalog, a 63,000-square-foot warehouse built in 1982. The Academy paid $2 million for it in 1994 ($3.2 million in 2016 money). It is zoned for PDR use, which some of the Academy's facilities could conceivably qualify, but for the most part in the past they used it as a garage (including "antique fire vehicle storage"). Three years ago, they added in a weight room and basketball court.

950 Van Ness Avenue

Two different buildings on the same block, connected internally and serving as garage space for AAU's classic car collection. (Until this legal filing, it was probably not apparent to most people exactly how many classic cars the Academy owns.) It was once an auto showroom and garage, which would seem to be pretty much the same thing it's being used as now, but the lawsuit insists that additional permitting is still required.