Sherwin-Williams Paint Factory (Now “The Lab”)

This 3-story brick-facade Warehouse is the last remaining structure from what was once the 10-acre Sherwin-Williams Paint factory. The building once supported the iconic “Cover The Earth” neon sign familiar to commuters and generations of Bay Area residents.

In 1919, Sherwin-Williams Western Plants Manager L.W. Walcott built and opened the Emeryville manufacturing plant at a cost of one million dollars. His plan was to expand its products of lead-based paints and Dry Lime Sulfur pesticides to the west coast.

The plant was an economic engine for the city throughout the decades employing hundreds.

The Emeryville plant ceased operations for good in 2006 and most of the plant was demolished. Sherwin moved existing operations from the plant to Nevada near Reno.

The site underwent extensive remediation with oversight by the Department of Toxic Substances Control for lead and arsenic contamination.

Several developers pitched building on the site throughout the next decade until Lennar Multifamily Corporation, now “Quarterra,” finally received approval in 2016.

During the approval process, then Emeryville Planning Commissioner Philip Banta pitched adding a “pass-through” to the warehouse at 45th street to better connect Emeryville‘s Horton Street Bike Boulevard to the Green space of the project. Nearby residents of the Artist Co-op enthusiastically advocated for this and it was negotiated into the plan.

The adaptive reuse plan for the structure was approved in 2021 and it was acquired by Walton Street Capital soon thereafter and being renovated by Steel Wave Architects.

Renamed “The Lab” it is expected to accommodate office and life-science tenants.