Schmidt Lithograph building

By the turn of the 20th century, it had built a three-story headquarters and printing plant on the site of Peter Donahue's mansion at Bryant and Second Streets in San Francisco.

[10] When the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was built in the 1930s, six blocks of the industrial South of Market neighborhood were demolished to build the approach viaduct and ramps.

Max Schmidt threatened to move the company out of San Francisco, and the viaduct was rerouted to the north, between Bryant and Harrison Streets, necessitating a slight bend.

[2][12] A 1997 proposal for seismic retrofitting of the viaduct after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake would have reduced the distance between the clock tower building and the road decks from approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) to under 21 inches (53 cm).

[17][18] The architect for the restoration, which included creating a courtyard in the former main print hall and cladding the brick exterior of the tower building with stucco, was David Baker.