Why preserve history when you can build more condos? The Landmark Preservation Board isn't standing in the way of progress here: with their approval, AT&T's old 1925 art deco skyscraper at New Montgomery and Howard streets in SoMa will be gutted to make way for 118 luxury condos. The exterior of the building will remain mostly in tact, with the exception of the leaky steel-framed windows, which will be replaced. The entire insides of the building, however, will be trashed. But oh, right, the cash: the developer says the renovation will cost more than building a new structure from the ground up, and with the market limping along and financiers pulling out of projects left and right... Well, you know the rest. But if all goes according to plan, "We will be losing a lot," said one dissenting board member who wanted the building designated a historical landmark. The project is set to go before the Planning Commission within a month for final approval.
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