The building remained largely vacant for five years . Right after the Automatt closed , Walden bought the Trident TSM mixing console which had been in Studio A. Levitin remembers a few odd recordings being initiated in 1985 after the Automatt supposedly shut down . In 1986 , Rubinson removed the Trident TSM from Studio B and sold it to Joel Jaffe and Dan Godfrey , the owners of Studio D in Sausalito . Vitlin tried to sell the building but found no buyers . He sued the building 's former tenants for making structural changes without permission : Bill Putnam , Coast Recorders , American Zoetrope , Francis Ford Coppola , the Automatt and David Rubinson . Various insurance companies paid Vitlin a settlement , and he collected Rubinson 's escrow account holding the earlier , lower lease payments . Left abandoned , squatters broke into the building and occasionally lived in it . When the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit , the building suffered severe structural damage . It was demolished to make a parking lot . Later , new condominiums were erected on the spot , part of a larger redevelopment project for the South of Market ( SoMa ) area
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
The Automatt