At its completion, the building's first floor was devoted to retail except for the portion facing the rear courtyard (opening to Mission Street), which was reserved for Southern Pacific.

[8] However, Union Pacific Railroad was still the owner of One Market Street until the building was sold for US$50,000,000 (equivalent to $93,466,721 in 2023) to The Martin Group (TMG) in 1998.

[9][10] TMG invested another $50 million to renovate the property,[9] including a seismic retrofit, completing work in 1999.

[16] The building is planned in the form of the capital letter "E", with the longest side, 275 ft (84 m) long, along Market Street.

The wings on Spear and Steuart Streets are each 210 ft (64 m) long, and the central arm is occupied by elevators.