Northern Sun Associates

What Northern Sun Associates does

Northern Sun Associates is a construction firm headquartered in South San Francisco, California, that provides office tenant improvements and building alteration services, with a documented project portfolio extending into hospitality and retail build-outs across the San Francisco Bay Area. The firm has been operating since 1974 (positioned by its own marketing as "Building since 1974") and holds California contractor License No. 295897, supporting its positioning as a licensed general/ specialty contractor rather than a vertically integrated operator. Its customer base spans restaurants, bars, and coffee shops on the hospitality side (including Gather, Heyday, Cotogna, and Bar Agricole) and branded retail stores on the retail side (including Ghirardelli, MUJI, and TUMI), indicating a specialty niche in interior build-out and alteration work for high-visibility consumer-facing venues.

The business operates on a project-based engagement model with custom quoting rather than published rate cards or subscription pricing, consistent with specialty contractor economics. Headcount is reported at 1–10 employees, which suggests a lean operating model likely centered on an owner-operator supplemented by trade subcontractors on individual projects. The firm does not disclose proprietary technology, off-the-shelf estimating platforms, or digital project management tooling as differentiators; its competitive identity rests on long-standing client relationships and a multi-decade regional track record rather than technology, scale, or capital intensity.

Note on data quality: one portion of the source material characterizes Northern Sun Associates as a "hospitality and retail management company operating multiple restaurants and retail locations," which conflicts with the firmographic short description ("construction firm") and the website's "Building since 1974" contractor positioning. The construction-firm interpretation is treated as primary because it aligns with the firmographic description, the explicit contractor license number, and the absence of operating-company economics (revenue per venue, staffing for active operations, etc.). The conflict is flagged here for diligence rather than papered over.

Name

Northern Sun Associates

Legal name

Northern Sun Associates, Inc.

Website

https://norsun.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Northern Sun Associates is a South San Francisco construction firm, founded in 1974, that provides tenant improvements and building alteration services for hospitality and retail clients across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Construction Services

NAICS

Other Building Finishing Contractors (23839)

SIC

General Bldg Contractors - Nonresidential Bldgs (1540)

akta.pro primary industry

Office & Corporate Building Construction (IMAFACAA)

Keywords

• Tenant improvement services
• Commercial building alterations
• Hospitality build-outs
• Retail construction
• Interior build-out services

Headquarters

HQ city

South San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Northern Sun Associates is a California-licensed general building contractor (License No. 295897) that provides construction and build-out services, including office tenant improvements, building alterations, and specialized interior construction for hospitality venues and retail stores. The firm, headquartered in South San Francisco, has been operating since 1974 and delivers design-build and project management services to Bay Area businesses requiring commercial interior construction and renovation.

Product overview

Northern Sun Associates is a consulting and services company that has been building since 1974, serving clients in the hospitality and retail sectors. Based in South San Francisco, CA, the company provides its services to various named restaurant, café, bar, and retail store clients including Bar Agricole, Black Bark, Chino, The Coffee Bar, Comal, Cotogna, Delfina, Gather, Heyday, Monsieur Benjamin, Picnic on Third, The Plant Organic, Proper Food, Reverb, Tacolicious, Verbena, Aquarium by the Bay, Chronicle Books, Ghirardelli locations, MUJI, Isaia, Pink Dolphin, and TUMI. The company does not appear to offer a distinct software product, platform, or SaaS offering based on the available website content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gather: Restaurant in Berkeley, CA
• Heyday
• Cotogna
• Monsieur Benjamin
• Comal
• Delfina Burlingame
• Picnic on Third
• Tacolicious
• Bar Agricole
• Black Bark
• Chino
• Verbena
• Reverb
• The Coffee Bar
• The Plant Organic
• Proper Food
• Aquarium by the Bay
• Chronicle Books
• Ghirardelli Manufactory
• Ghirardelli at the Palace Hotel
• Ghirardelli at the Great Mall
• MUJI
• Isaia
• Pink Dolphin
• TUMI

Products and services

• Tenant Improvement Services Construction and renovation services for commercial tenant spaces, including office interiors, leased spaces, and commercial build-outs for businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Named customers26 records

Segments2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Swinerton: National GC founded in California with a large Bay Area presence covering tenant improvements and hospitality work — comparable vertical mix but materially larger and broader.
• DPR Construction: National commercial GC with significant Bay Area operations performing tenant improvements and hospitality build-outs — comparable service lines but at much greater scale and breadth.
• Hathaway Dinwiddie: San Francisco-headquartered commercial GC with a long Bay Area history covering tenant improvements, hospitality, and corporate interiors — comparable at a larger scale.
• Webcor: Large Bay Area-headquartered general contractor with broad commercial, hospitality, and corporate build-out capabilities — comparable geography and verticals but at significantly larger scale.

Direct peers

• XL Construction: Bay Area-based commercial GC with offices in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, specializing in tenant improvements, hospitality, and corporate interiors.
• Build Group: San Francisco-based general contractor with a strong hospitality, restaurant, and retail tenant-improvement practice — directly comparable in target client mix and Bay Area geography.
• R.D. Olson Construction: California-based general contractor with a long-standing hospitality and restaurant construction specialty — a comparable niche peer with similar end-market exposure.
• Skyline Construction: Santa Clara-based commercial general contractor focused on tenant improvements, hospitality, and retail build-outs in the Bay Area — a closely aligned peer in size, geography, and vertical mix.
• Greentech Construction: Bay Area commercial GC specialized in restaurant and hospitality build-outs; comparable specialty focus and customer profile to Northern Sun's restaurant portfolio.
• Level 10 Construction: Sunnyvale-based commercial GC performing tenant improvements, hospitality, and corporate office build-outs across the Bay Area — directly comparable geography and service mix.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/northern-sun-associates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Northern Sun Associates