Reimagining a historic San Francisco office tower as a members’ club and lifestyle brand.
ClientTidewater
TypeOffice Building
ServicesStrategy, Naming, Visual Identity, Collateral
Location
San Francisco, USA
Interior DesignDesignAgency
The early 2020s were hard on San Francisco. Between tech companies’ overzealous embrace of the pandemic-era shift to remote work, and rising rates of poverty and homelessness, the city’s once-vibrant financial district fell on hard times. By 2023, San Francisco’s downtown core had the highest office vacancy rate of any major American city. A handful of Class ‘A’ new-builds launched, benefiting from what the industry calls a “flight to quality,” but the environment proved extremely challenging for most real estate owners.
It was in this context that Tidewater engaged StudioDA to breathe new life into J.H. Dollar, a 16-storey, century-old office building, which exuded charm and character, but which lacked the glossy amenities of its new-build neighbours. Tidewater, which is a San Francisco-based private equity outfit with a history of innovative, community-oriented development, also engaged DesignAgency to reimagine the building’s common spaces, including the entire ground floor.
It’s the kind of project StudioDA relishes: an opportunity to drive differentiation and growth for an underperforming asset with tremendous underlying value. To solve it, we turned to Jane Jacobs, who told the world, “New ideas need old buildings.” It was a powerful, succinct answer to the obvious question: What can a century-old office building offer that a shiny new one cannot? The answer is a smaller footprint and competitive lease rates, which could attract the innovative companies that imbue office buildings with the creative dynamism and social energy that makes the workplace worth visiting in the first place. Herein was our other key insight: Our competition isn’t just other office towers. It’s working from home. So, we leaned into the idea of J.H. Dollar as not merely a place to work, but a place to be. We conceived of the property as an office building that feels like a members-only social club: A third place that offers visitors the sense that they belong to a curated community, comprising like-minded, creative people. The result isn’t just a workplace: it’s a hub of social energy, community and creative inspiration.
As of summer 2026, Tidewater is rolling out the new brand in a steadily strengthening market environment. The revitalized J.H. Dollar building is set to relaunch later this year, and will include J.H. Dollar Provisions, a boutique dedicated to branded merchandise that enables tenants to telegraph their taste through limited edition apparel and accessories.
In a market full of glossy new-builds, we turned to Jane Jacobs, who told the world, “New ideas need old buildings.”
We conceived of the building as a third place that offers visitors the sense that they belong to a community of like-minded, creative people.
The result is an office building that doubles as a lifestyle brand, complete with high-design merch that tenants—and others—wear with pride.
