The San Francisco Girls Chorus is putting its Hayes Valley headquarters on the market for $13.75 million, listing the 36,000-square-foot building at 44 Page Street after two decades of ownership. The building started life in 1912 as the ceremonial seat of California's Druid order, and the chorus has occupied it since buying the site for $5 million in 2005.
The sale, first reported by The San Francisco Standard, comes as the chorus works toward consolidating into a single venue capable of housing concerts, rehearsals and administrative offices all under one roof. Executive Director Mary Finch, who took the job in March 2026, said the chorus cannot actually perform inside its current building and has to rent outside facilities for concerts. The organization plans to rent the Page Street building back from its eventual new owner for two years, using that window to renovate whatever building it buys next.
A Building the Chorus Has Outgrown
Founded in 1978, the San Francisco Girls Chorus has moved roughly ten times over its history, cycling through leased churches, office buildings and even a former funeral home before it bought the Hayes Valley site. The building itself was designed in the Beaux-Arts style and got a three-floor office addition in 1984 that brought it up to six stories, according to the San Francisco Planning Department. The chorus uses only about half of the building's square footage today, renting the rest of the upper floors to other nonprofits.
That arrangement isn't new. Before the chorus bought the property in 2005, its upper floors served as a shared administrative hub for arts groups including the Western Arts Alliance, Stern Grove Festival, the Women's Philharmonic and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, per the Western Arts Alliance. The Kanbar Performing Arts Center inside the building still hosts rehearsal and event space for more than two dozen Bay Area arts, educational and cultural organizations each year, according to the chorus.
The Kanbar Family's Blessing
The building's name traces back to philanthropist Maurice Kanbar, whose family donated $4 million of the original $5 million purchase price in 2005. Kanbar, who held more than 50 patents — including the lint remover and hypodermic needle protectors — died in 2022, according to J. The Jewish News of Northern California. His family has since given another $250,000 to support the chorus's relocation, and board members approved the sale only after securing the Kanbar family's approval, per the seed reporting.
The chorus board had reportedly considered a move even before Finch arrived, and members ultimately signed off on the sale once that family blessing was in hand. The organization needs to maximize the sale price to fund its next chapter, and that financial pressure has shaped who's being courted as a buyer — including, notably, a for-profit organization.
Marketing Practice Rooms as Office Space
Listing agent Michael Barnacle of Corcoran Icon Properties has targeted AI and technology firms as prospective buyers, going so far as to create AI-generated images showing the chorus's practice rooms reimagined as office space. He's co-listing the building with Gary Tribulato and is also reaching out to educational institutions and consulates as potential buyers. The building's selling points include 20-foot ceilings on the first floor and lower levels that include a former ballroom, banquet halls and club rooms.
Commercial listing materials from Corcoran Icon Properties show the building is currently about 95 percent leased, generating rental income from upper-floor office tenants. The listing notes the building recently underwent exterior restoration, including repairs to its facade, cornice and windows, before hitting the market this month.
Where the Chorus Goes Next
The chorus is eyeing SoMa and Mid-Market for its next headquarters, with Finch saying the organization needs a location near transit that's convenient and safe. It isn't looking outside San Francisco and intends to stay in the city, where its programs currently serve more than 400 girls and their families from San Francisco and the East Bay. Finch said the chorus wants a home that offers better opportunities for girls and young women while the organization remains a responsible steward of its resources.
The timeline is tight but deliberate: Finch said the chorus expects to have a new building secured by its 50th anniversary in the 2027-2028 season and to be staging performances there by its 51st anniversary. In the meantime, the chorus will keep performing around the city during the 2026-2027 season at venues including the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, SFJAZZ, San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Conservatory.
Separating the Sale From Last Year's Scandal
The move follows real turbulence for the organization. Its former executive director, Seth Ducey, was placed on administrative leave and then dismissed in early 2025 after board members received allegedly self-made pornographic photos, and after facing allegations of lewd conduct inside the Kanbar Performing Arts Center, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report from that time. Finch was appointed executive director in March 2026, taking over operations ahead of the planned relocation.
Finch has said the decision to sell 44 Page Street is unrelated to the Ducey incident.
