Leonard Martin, 81; Turned S.F. Cannery Into Shops, Eateries
Leonard Victor Martin, 81, who purchased the abandoned Del Monte cannery in San Francisco in 1963 and turned it into the successful shopping and dining attraction known as the Cannery, died earlier this month at his home in Ross, Calif., after a long illness.
Martin’s purchase of the ramshackle cannery near Fisherman’s Wharf, along with nearby Ghirardelli Square, helped launch a national movement to renovate older commercial buildings.
Martin, whose given name was Leonid Matveyeff, was born in Manchuria to Russian parents who had fled Siberia. He immigrated to San Francisco in 1940 and, after earning a law degree at UCLA, opened a law practice in San Francisco.
Newspaper columnist Herb Caen once lauded Martin as one of “those San Francisco individuals who are Slightly Mad in the nicest possible way.”
The Cannery is still family-owned; Martin’s son, Christopher, is managing partner.
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