History of the American Industrial Center
The American Industrial Center is the former San Francisco location of the American Can Company (CanCo).
Early Years:
The American Can Company
1915-1969
The American Can Company began construction on the first part of the 3rd Street complex in San Francisco in 1915.
Construction was completed in stages until finished in 1955.
The American Can Company employed thousands of men and women at this location in the manufacture of cans and milk cartons for West Coast canneries.
The San Francisco factory shut down in 1969 and remained empty for several years.
Transition:
Becoming the American Industrial Center
Family Owned and Operated Since 1975
Following the plant closure, Angelo Markoulis purchased the complex in 1975. It was renamed the American Industrial Center and converted from a vacant 800,000 square foot cavern into space for multiple businesses.
At the start, the AIC was home to several warehousing facilities along with a few industrial users. By 1985, the American Industrial Center had gone from having 35-40 large tenants to 285 individual small businesses.
Today:
A Thriving Community of Small Businesses
Today, the American Industrial Center hosts over 250 small businesses as diverse as you can imagine and is known for providing up and coming and established businesses with a safe, clean, and affordable space to grow their business.
The building is still owned and managed by the Markoulis family, who is excited to celebrate 50 years of supporting this community of businesses.
We look forward to continuing the tradition of evolving our space to meet the needs of today’s small businesses in San Francisco.