Merchants Exchange Building San Francisco

The Merchants Exchange Building is an office building located at 465 California Street in San Francisco, completed in 1904 and owned by real estate investor Clint Reilly. It stands as the third structure to bear the name, following two earlier buildings: one on Battery Street built in 1855 as a three-story brick facility for merchants, and another on California Street, also three stories, in Beaux-Arts style with an observation tower.

Designed by architects Daniel Burnham and Willis Polk, the current building features a steel-frame structure with Tennessee granite and brick sheathing. It served both as an office space and a hub for merchant activities, including a meeting room and an observation tower. The skyscraper was one of the tallest in San Francisco before the 1906 earthquake, surviving the disaster though heavily damaged.

Repairs post-earthquake were led by architect Julia Morgan, who designed a marble lobby with Ionic columns, coffered ceilings, vaulted skylights, and commissioned murals by William Coulter. The building's main hall now houses California Bank & Trust. The fifteenth floor originally hosted the Commercial Club, later renamed the Julia Morgan Ballroom in 1995. Morgan also moved her office to the thirteenth floor following the earthquake, remaining there for her career.