In 1915, when Joseph Knowland, a former U.S. congressman, acquired the Oakland Tribune, the newspaper was located at Eighth and Franklin streets in the old Golden West Hotel.

The architect designed the tower with a mix of French and Italian classical elements, topped with a copper green mansard roof with punched eye windows.

Joseph Knowland was a political mentor to his son, as well as to California attorney general and governor Earl Warren and many other Republicans.

The Tribune Tower gained national attention in 1923 when magician Harry Houdini demonstrated his skills by escaping from a straitjacket while dangling upside down from the ninth floor of the building.

The Tower was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which forced the Tribune to relocate to new offices in Jack London Square.

The building was originally meant for Zeppelin landing, the airship was to be tied off to the mast (flagpole) and the drop ladder to come down onto the 20th floor walkway.

The building was purchased for $8 million by Tom Henderson, SFRC's CEO and an Oakland native, in December 2011 and seized by an Alameda County Superior Court judge in April 2016 along with several other company assets.

[6] In 2017 Tom Henderson was sued by the US Government (SEC)[7] and accused of running a fraudulent scheme with Chinese investors' money.

Harvest Properties, Inc., a full-service commercial real estate investment firm headquartered in Oakland, purchased the building out of receivership for approximately $20 million.