Pinterest pins its hopes on a new S.F. headquarters already full of tenants

Pinterest signed a lease for a 311,000-square-foot building in San Francisco that is already larded with merchants who may be forced to move elsewhere.

The building in question is the well-regarded San Francisco Design Center at Henry Adams Street. The established and numerous merchants who sell their wares from the building may be tossed if the landlord gets the city’s approval to convert the interior — and its zoning — into the new Pinterest HQ, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Pinterest currently resides in the SOMA district.

According to the Chron:

“The design center’s current zoning does not allow for technology companies like Pinterest. It is zoned PDR – production, distribution and repair — which is meant to preserve blue-collar jobs in a part of town that is a hotbed of housing and office development. But buried in the language of the zoning is a loophole: Buildings designated as historic landmarks can legally convert from PDR to traditional office uses.”

The building in question is in the neighborhood between Potrero Hill and SoMA and actually compromises two structures. The Design Center opened its doors in the early 1970s. If the deal works, Pinterest would first move into one of the buildings, opening their offices on the second and third floor. The deal is staggered.

The proposed move promises to further inflame resentment from many San Francisco residents and merchants who are being priced out of their rents and apartments to make way for tech firms setting up shop here. If this deal goes through there are proposals to help the existing tenants find new spaces.

Poof!