The Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco announced today that it will soon move from its current location in the Dogpatch neighborhood to 345 Montgomery St. in the Financial District, a building co-owned by Vornado Realty Trust and the Trump Organization.
The property is anchored by a 52-story tower at 555 California St., the former flagship building for Bank of America, which the Trump Organization describes in its list of holdings as an “iconic business address towering over San Francisco.” According to recent reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Business Times, the Trump Organization holds a 30% ownership stake in the property.
Asked about Trump’s stake in their future home, ICA founding director Ali Gass told KQED that “ICA San Francisco’s values are not at all aligned with Trump’s values.”
Gass added that fact would be made clear through the artists and programming the ICA supports in the new location, and stressed that the nonprofit has dealt exclusively with Vornado. “They have been extraordinarily generous and clearly believe deeply in the impact of a nonprofit arts organization,” she said.
The ICA’s future home, “The Cube,” was once a banking hall; the dramatic stone, glass and metal building was designed in 1971 by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.