No one has spent more time in Symphony Towers or on the block where it was built in the late 1980s than Jill Vivanco. Vivanico started working in 1981 for the Gildred family, longtime owner and developer of the former Fox Theater block, including what’s now known as Symphony Hall.

The block is bounded by Seventh and Eighth avenues, A and B streets in Downtown San Diego, and is topped by the University Club, a private dining room with one of San Diego’s finest views and food service with a reputation to match.

When she was 21, Vivanco served as property manager of the 100,000-square-foot Fox building, then joined the new owner’s development team, Charlton Raynd Development Co. and Doug Wilson. She provided their sole secretarial and administrative support during construction of the 570,383-square-foot office building, the 600-space parking garage over the hall, and the former Marriott Suites that has become a Sheraton hotel.

She helped open the building in 1989, and handled paperwork for the introduction of the London and Edinburgh Trust into the ownership. The trust, a Swedish pension fund, eventually bought out Charlton Raynd and became her employer. Vivanco moved from secretary to office manager to assistant property manager to property manager to director of property management, then vice president and portfolio manager for the pension fund, now known as Alecta Investment Management. And when the Irvine Co. bought the property last month, she was demoted to general manager and let go after 30 days. Different cultures.

Since April 2000, when she became Alecta’s v.p. and portfolio manager, Vivanco has overseen the construction of about 100,000 square feet of tenant improvements, mostly done by Bilbro Construction, enough oversight to qualify her as a worthy Woman in Construction even without her development and management experience. A vivacious woman, she also organizes golf tournaments, raises two children and remains active in the Downtown San Diego Partnership and Building Owners and Managers Association.