Published Aug. 10, 2026at6:00am
The dusty glass and green facade of 150 Hayes St. still projects the same image it has since 1968, when San Francisco was betting on mid-size office towers to fill out its downtown.
But inside, the six-story building has been sitting vacant for years — furniture strewn about and stacked on top of each other, like a scene out of this summer’s hit movie “Backrooms (opens in new tab).”
That’s about to change. Last week, a team of developers filed plans with the city to convert the aging office building into 104 apartments. While they’re at it, they are adding a seventh floor, stripping the exterior and replacing it with a glass and bronze skin.
Heading this project is Marc Babsin of Emerald Fund, a developer who has already built three apartment towers on that Civic Center block, and Jack Sylvan of SDG, a former development director for the city who went on to work in the private sector for the likes of Brookfield.