The Columbia Savings Bank Building, also known as the Columbus Savings Bank, is a landmark office building located at 700 Montgomery Street in the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The building is registered as a San Francisco Landmark. It was deemed significant as the "oldest of four buildings that represent the beginning of Italian banking in San Francisco", along with the

Bank of Italy building Bank of Italy is the Bank of Italy or Banca d'Italia, the central bank of Italy. Or it may refer to: *Bank of Italy (United States), a bank established in San Francisco, California and the forerunner of the Bank of America. Or Bank of Italy or Ban ...

and two other bank buildings.

Tenants

The Columbia Savings Bank Building was originally built for the Columbus Savings and Loan Society, as a bank which primarily served the Italian community in San Francisco. In 1923 the building at 700 Montgomery became, for two years, the Columbus Branch of the

Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...

. From 1939 to 1953 the ground floor was occupied by the Pisani Printing and Publishing Company. The upper floor was occupied by the Italian consulate from 1948 to 1951, and the Indonesian consulate from 1954 to 1956. From 1973 until 1996, the building was the studio for

KIOI KIOI (101.3 FM, "Star 101.3") is an commercial hot adult contemporary-formatted American radio station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, and owned by iHeartMedia. The radio studios and offices are in the SoMa district of ...

radio station. Beginning in 2000, it hosted the law offices of former Mayor

Joseph L. Alioto Joseph Lawrence Alioto (February 12, 1916 – January 29, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976. Biography Alioto was born in San Francisco in 1916. His father, Giuseppe A ...

and his daughter, Angela Alioto.

Synonymous places

There was a postwar Columbia Savings Bank building in Los Angeles. It was demolished in 2009. It was standing at the southeast corner of Wilshire and La Brea (on the Miracle Mile). It had turned into a Korean church (Wilshire Grace Church) before its destruction.

References

Bank buildings in San Francisco North Beach, San Francisco San Francisco Designated Landmarks 1904 establishments in California {{SanFrancisco-struct-stub Office buildings completed in 1904