553 days since the fire, it looks like the building's restoration is finally approaching completion.

Yesterday the scaffolding on the Fillmore Street side of the building at 491-499 Haight was removed, revealing a redesigned facade and fresh paint job: For reference, here's what this side of the building looked like before the fire: A few differences are immediately apparent: the windows on the upper floors are more ornate, there are new gold and white details, and the former-Walgreens/future-CVS space will thankfully be getting more windows of its own. (We can't help but notice that the fire escape is missing -- hopefully there's a good explanation for that.) As we reported in February, Three Twins and Estela's have signed leases to return to the building. We checked in with Three Twins yesterday, and they're still tracking for a June re-opening, if all goes well. We'll keep you posted.