Tuesday, November 29, 2005

2005 Toy Drive Gears Up!

This year, we're working with the Building Owners and Managers Association (hereafter, BOMA) to help the San Francisco Firefighters Annual Toy Drive. We have two collection barrels in the lobby that we'd love to see stuffed with Toys by the time they're due for a pickup. We have until December 19th to the 23rd to make a small donation and a huge difference in the lives of some cute kids! So let's do it!

Also, Jeffrey's Toys is offering a discount to all tenants at the building who purchase toys to support the drive! Talk to a cashier for details!

Thanks for your support.

Art Opening this Thursday

This year, treat yourself to an early Christmas Present!

On Thursday, our holiday decorations will be going up, and our final art opening for the artists currently on exhibit will be held from 6-8PM. Stay late, browse the art, enjoy the lobby decor and some light refreshments provided by John of Griffin Davis Art, and kick off the holiday season!

Also, for the month of December, Griffin Davis will offer special pricing on all their work! It's the perfect time to give the gift of art or get that painting you've had your eye on these past months. Proceeds of every sale go to benefit Art for Healing, so you can count that as a good deed, too!

For more information, visit www.griffindavisart.com or call John McNamara @ 415/ 902-7393.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Our Annual Tenant Appreciation Thanksgiving Breakfast was bigger and better than last year's, and we still ran out of food by 9:00.

Thankfully, this year's event was catered by our friends at O La La*. They kept the fresh coffee, pastries, orange juice, fruit and eggnogg coming long after we had gone through the first round.

We'd like to extend a special thanks their way for the extras they sent over "on the house".

Also, we thank our tenants for making the Monadnock Building their "home away from home". Without your hard work throughout the year, we couldn't be here to put on these great events.

So on behalf of the ownership, and the management and staff at 685 Market Street, have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!


*O La La serves breakfast and lunch 7 days a week. They are available for catering and special events in the Monadnock Building. For further information, contact Steve Aziz @ 415/ 904-8088.Posted by Picasa

& Music

As usual, entertainment was provided by the incomparable Brian Moran. Posted by Picasa

Friday, November 11, 2005

New Freight Elevator

Plans to install a new Sidewalk Elevator are in motion and rapidly moving forward.

The new elevator (pictured here) went in this week, and on Monday new concrete is scheduled to be poured.

The job went very smoothly thanks to coordination by Skyline's Brent Halley. Also, our project team led by the incomperable D'Anna Bradley, our Fearless Leader, Warren Mead, and Tom Harras of OTIS Elevators helped us rush this project through within budget and just in time for those big deliveries of presents!

Special thanks to George Von Klan for consulting, Chris Yamashita for writing this, and to the guy in the picture who's face we have omitted for aesthetic purposes. Just kidding. He was a nice enough looking guy. Posted by Picasa

Giant Window Sticker Refuses to Cooperate in Chainsmoking Investigations

Although the conclusions that we've drawn from this picture are purely based on circumstantial evidence, we, the property management of the building, feel that something has to be done about the unsightly accumulation of cigarette butts in the area in front of the toy store- and we think we know who's to blame.

Repeated questioning of the giant child by our building assistant yielded little more than a cold, steady stare, and a few strange looks from passers-by. We wanted to know: had he seen who'd done this? Could he prove that it wasn't him? Whatever he knew, it was plain that he wasn't saying.

TO HELP US SOLVE THIS MYSTERY, WE'RE ASKING FOR EVERYBODY'S HELP ON THIS ONE:

If anyone sees this child doing this again, we'd like you to sternly remind him that SMOKING SHOULD BE DONE 10 FEET FROM THE BUILDING, and preferably around the corner, so that the second-hand smoke does not disturb the patrons of Jeffrey's Toys.

Remind our friend here that it also sets a bad example for the kids who patronize the toy-store and may look up to their giant buddy in the window as a role-model.

Also, leaving the butts there in front of a retailer in our building reflects poorly on us all. If we could get this kid to just walk 10 feet to Annie Street and deposit his cigarette butts in the Smoker's Station that is expressly set up there for that purpose, I think we'd all be happier and the whole building would look better.

THANKS FOR HELPING US KEEP OUR BUILDING CLEAN AND BEAUTIFUL!!! Posted by Picasa

Winter Bloom on Annie St.

As the building management walks around downtown San Francisco we tend to size other buildings up, and one thing that was definately causing us some "building envy" was the lack of some nice color around the edges of our building.

WE ARE GREEN WITH ENVY NO MORE! Thanks to the greenthumbs at the San Francisco Plant Company!

The SFPC, which does such a stellar job in our building courtyard, came out this week and installed some great plantings of colorful Crysanthemums in the planters on Annie Street.

We hope you all get a chance to appreciate these while they're fresh and beautiful. And keep on the look-out for more great decorations this coming Winter Holiday.

It's all in a day's management here, at your friendly, local building office. Posted by Picasa

Pigeons Get the Boot

Something's missing in this picture...

But that's not a bad thing.

Lately, due to increased traffic in Annie Street at lunch time (which by the way, we love to see) the Alley was quickly becoming a hot-spot for pigeons who were roosting on the building and doing what birds do after they eat.

In response to this imminent sanitary issue, we had BIRD BUSTERS install new bird deterrents on the Annie Street side of our building just this morning.

We hope this keeps the area pigeon free for a while and ask that everyone who enjoys eating outside help us keep the area free from scraps of food that attract our feathered friends in the first place, and remind anyone they see doing so to: PLEASE DON'T FEED THE PIGEONS! Posted by Picasa

Thanksgiving Food Drive

Every Year, The San Francisco Food Bank "delivers groceries to more than 450 pantries and agencies serving thousands of San Francisco families, seniors and individuals in need.

With your help, the Food Bank can distribute enough food for nearly 53,000 meals every day".

This Thanksgiving, as far as we're concerned, it's gonna be 53,002 or bust.

If you're interested in helping us meet (or exceed) this goal, don't hesitate! Drop off one of the foods mentioned on the barrel and make a difference in our community!

(Insert warm fuzzy feelings here). Please note: glass containers are a no-no. Posted by Picasa

Friday, November 04, 2005

Weekly Update, 11/4/05

MODERNISM/ GRIFFIN DAVIS JOINT ART OPENING DRAWS CROWDS

Last night the "First Thursday" opening at the Monadnock Building drew crowds of art lovers to our building's after hours expose.

Griffin Davis hosted artist Jennifer Roszell, whose paintings are currently on display in the 3rd floor Elevator Lobby. Chris Crossen's have been moved to the 4th floor and Zoe Martell's have been placed on 5.

Modernism hosted controversial artist Gottfried Helnwein. Similarly controversial singer, Marilyn Manson, a friend of Gottfried, made an appearance as well.

We urge you to take some time to check out the new pieces on display throughout the building! A wonderful Chris Crossen piece was added on the 4th floor, and the art in Modernism showcases a provoking reinterpretation of the Alice in Wonderland story, as seen by an artist born is post-war Austria. Don't miss it!

WHAT'S UP (AND DOWN) WITH THOSE ELEVATORS?

The old sidewalk elevator on Stevenson Street is under repair from the 4th to the 25th. Expect to see an increase in deliveries through the front of the building.

We are in the process of rebalancing the last of the elevators. Hopefully some of you have noticed that the ride is better and others have noticed nothing at all, which is the goal- to make your elevator commute as smooth and possible.

GREEN - WITH ENVY?

Our first Green Building Stewardship Meeting went off without a hitch... or a speaker this morning. Luckily, Warren Mead, Property Manager of 685 Market Street and Chairman of the downtown Recyling Task Force was able to pull together an enlightening discussion with our Janitorial Management and Suppliers.

Tenants in attendance learned that our Building is one of the first in downtown San Francisco to initiate a program whose goal is to move toward phasing all chemicals used in the building to Green or Environmentally Friendly products, which will improve the quality of life for the tenants in the building and the people we rely on for cleaning services. Tenants learned about some of the ways they could help in the process. A Power-Point presentation is being worked on now to be made available for those who were not able to attend and to give those who did a reference for the ways that we can pull together to help make this building a better place.

WINTER BLOOM PLANNED FOR ANNIE STREET

As the days get shorter and the nights a bit colder, we've noticed that more and more tenants are taking their lunches outside to enjoy the small bit of sunshine this city has to offer. What more perfect moment, we thought, than to beautify Annie St a bit for the holidays? Now that we have the skate deterrents up, the planters painted, and the woodchips and lights, we are taking the initiative to add some color, the exact form of which we are in negotiations to determine. Posted by Picasa