In the spring of 1918 a building site bounded by Sacramento, Sansome, Battery, and Commercial streets was purchased for the Federal Reserve's future home; the lot measured 119.5 by 275 ft (36.4 by 83.8 m).

[7] In 2004, the law firm Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe moved out of the building, leaving it essentially vacant until Bently Holdings purchased it from Boston Properties in April 2005 for 46.8 million dollars.

It currently stands as an intact contributor to San Francisco's important collection of classically designed banking halls, as well as an expression of the ideals of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915.

Inside, the Banking Hall was designed in a Temple style, and featured murals by Jules Guerin, who created the palette for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exhibition.

Hereafter the clients who contemplate erecting buildings both of a public and private character will bring their architects, sculptors and decorators together as a board and leave them free to evolve by their united efforts thoroughly harmonious plans.

"[9] This collaborative process is dramatized at the Reserve; as the chief architect of the Exposition in 1915, Kelham had worked closely with its colorist, Jules Guérin, who had designed the murals for the Lincoln Memorial.

"[13] Encircled by a spiral stairway between the LeMeridien San Francisco and the Old Federal Reserve Bank Building on Commercial Street is a bronze sphere with black etchings, an untitled work by German artist Fritz Koenig.

[7] After purchasing the Old Federal Reserve, Bently Holdings began a major renovation of the building's interior in order to make it more appealing to tenants.

[16] The Bently Reserve's multiple-pane windows have been part of the building since its construction in 1924, and allow abundant daylight into each room, another feature the lighting system capitalizes upon.

[18] Currently, the building's upper floors are leased to notable tenants such as Smith Group, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the Energy Foundation.

One of these tenants, the Energy Foundation, became the first commercial space in San Francisco — and one of only thirteen worldwide — to receive LEED-CI Platinum Certification from the US Green Building Council.

These spaces are branded as one of San Francisco's green special event venues, featuring a preferred list of eco-friendly third party vendors and caterers.