George Keating commissioned this Romanesque Revival commercial block in 1890, but died before construction was completed. His widow, Fannie Keating, took over the project, saw it through to completion, and had her husband's name carved on the facade. Building a first-class office block in 1890 took resolve: San Diego's population had collapsed from its 1888 boom peak, and most Gaslamp construction had already stopped. The building opened as one of the city's most desirable office addresses, equipped with an elevator and steam heat.
The Reid Brothers, fresh from designing the Hotel del Coronado across the bay, composed the building in brick and sandstone with heavy round-arched openings, a rusticated base, and a curved corner that turns F Street into Fifth Avenue. The rounded corner anchors the composition with particular assurance. The Richardsonian Romanesque vocabulary was the dominant American commercial idiom of the era, and this stands among the finest regional examples.
