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An 18-story government building in California – once referred to as “one of the ugliest structures” in San Francisco by President-elect Trump – will be formally dedicated to former House Speaker Nanci Pelosi next week.
The San Francisco Federal Building, a 234-foot-tall building located in the city’s South of Market neighborhood, had its name changed to “Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building” last year and the high ranking Democrat will be on hand to unveil new signage at a ceremony on Monday, according to Bay City News. The building was named after Pelosi in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill.
The energy efficient “green” building opened in 2007 at a cost of $144 million and consists of stainless steel panels V-shaped panels at the top that fold over its broad concrete frame. It is designed to consume one-third the energy of a typical California office building, use natural light to illuminate 80% of the building and create a healthy environment for workers.
It was the first U.S. federal building to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. It is a globally recognized rating system that measures the sustainability of a building.
The building houses offices for Pelosi along with the Social Security Administration, Department of Transportation, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture, according to the General Services Administration (GSA) which operates the building.
“The building’s shape and orientation maximize natural airflow for cooling and ventilation and take advantage of natural daylight for the majority of office interiors,” per the GSA website.
Although praised for its energy efficiency, its gray and dull exterior has divided opinions, particularly as it sits across from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece on Seventh Street.
In 2020, then-President Trump issued an executive order, dubbed “make federal buildings beautiful again,” promoting beautiful federal civic architecture, which mentioned the building as being an unsatisfactory design.
GSA selected an architect to design the San Francisco Federal Building who describes his designs as ‘art-for-art’s-sake’ architecture, intended primarily for architects to appreciate. While elite architects praised the resulting building, many San Franciscans consider it one of the ugliest structures in their city,” the executive order reads.
The executive order was revoked by President Biden in February 2021.
Last year, workers raised safety concerns about entering and leaving the building due to the proliferation of drug dealers and homeless people congregating outside the building, the San Francisco Standard reported last year.
The publication cited an Aug. 4, 2023 memo, written by the Department of Health and Human Services leader, that said the security issues had gotten so bad that workers were urged to consider working from home. The block where the building sits recorded 525 drug-related incidents in a 12-month period, the publication writes, citing city data.
Pelosi was elected to Congress in 1987 and is one of the most senior Democratic Party leaders and the only woman to serve as Speaker of the House. She represents California’s 12th congressional district, encompassing most of the city of San Francisco. Under her second term as Speaker, the House impeached President-elect Trump twice, but he was acquitted both times by the Senate.
Deep blue San Francisco saw a 7-point swing to Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
