flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Plans for San Francisco's tallest building revamped

Plans for San Francisco's tallest building revamped

The glassy white high-rise would be 60 stories and 1,070 feet tall with an entrance at First and Mission streets.


By By the San Francisco Chronicle | March 14, 2012
The revised design keeps the obelisk form of the original with enclosed space gi
The revised design keeps the obelisk form of the original with enclosed space giving way to a see-through crown.

The long-dormant proposal for a skyline-busting skyscraper next to the Transbay Terminal has come back to life - without some of the original flourishes but still aiming to be San Francisco's tallest tower.

The glassy white high-rise would be 60 stories and 1,070 feet tall with an entrance at First and Mission streets, according to the new plans submitted to the city. It would contain 1.35 million square feet of office space and be accompanied by a half-acre public plaza.

The proposed height would extend 220 feet beyond the Transamerica Pyramid, which was completed in 1972 and is the city's tallest building.

The filing is another sign that developers are confident in the technology-driven revival of the local economy and that there is a looming need for more commercial and residential space.

It also comes as the Planning Department finishes work on a long-term plan for the area around the former terminal. A vote is expected in May on that plan, which includes the tower's environmental studies.

The plan must be in place before any vote on the tower. If all goes smoothly, developers say the earliest that construction could begin is late next year, with a 2016 opening.

Click here to read more. BD+C

Related Stories

| Jan 28, 2011

Firestone Building Products Unveils FirestoneRoof Mobile Web App

Firestone Building Products Company unveiled FirestoneRoof, a first-of-its-kind free mobile web app. The FirestoneRoof mobile web app enables customers to instantly connect with Firestone commercial roofing experts and is designed to make it easier for building owners, facility managers, roofing consultants and others charged with maintaining commercial roofing systems to get the support they need, when they need it.

| Jan 27, 2011

Perkins Eastman's report on senior housing signals a changing market

Top international design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to announce that the Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative recently completed the “Design for Aging Review 10 Insights and Innovations: The State of Senior Housing” study for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The results of the comprehensive study reflect the changing demands and emerging concepts that are re-shaping today’s senior living industry.

| Jan 25, 2011

Bloomberg launches NYC Urban Tech Innovation Center

To promote the development and commercialization of green building technologies in New York City, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has launched the NYC Urban Technology Innovation Center. This initiative will connect academic institutions conducting underlying research, companies creating the associated products, and building owners who will use those technologies.

| Jan 25, 2011

Top 10 rules of green project finance

Since the bottom fell out of the economy, finding investors and financial institutions willing to fund building projects—sustainable or otherwise—has been close to impossible. Real estate finance prognosticators, however, indicate that 2011 will be a year to buy back into the real estate market.

| Jan 25, 2011

Chicago invented the skyscraper; can it pioneer sustainable-energy strategies as well?

Chicago’s skyline has always been a source of pride. And while few new buildings are currently going up, building owners have developed a plan to capitalize on the latest advances: Smart-grid technologies that will convert the city’s iconic skyline into what backers call a “virtual green generator” by retrofitting high-rise buildings and the existing electrical grid to a new hyper-connected intelligent-communications backbone.

| Jan 25, 2011

AIA reports: Hotels, retail to lead U.S. construction recovery

U.S. nonresidential construction activity will decline this year but recover in 2012, led by hotel and retail sectors, according to a twice-yearly forecast by the American Institute of Architects. Overall nonresidential construction spending is expected to fall by 2% this year before rising by 5% in 2012, adjusted for inflation. The projected decline marks a deteriorating outlook compared to the prior survey in July 2010, when a 2011 recovery was expected.

| Jan 25, 2011

Jester Jones Schifer Architects, Ltd. Joins GPD Group

GPD Group is excited to announce that Jester Jones Schifer Architects, a Marion-based architectural firm, has joined our firm, now enabling GPD Group to provide architectural services to the Central-Ohio market.

| Jan 21, 2011

Combination credit union and USO center earns LEED Silver

After the Army announced plans to expand Fort Bliss, in Texas, by up to 30,000 troops, FirstLight Federal Credit Union contracted NewGround (as CM) to build a new 16,000-sf facility, allocating 6,000 sf for a USO center with an Internet café, gaming stations, and theater.

| Jan 21, 2011

Manufacturing plant transformed into LEED Platinum Clif Bar headquarters

Clif Bar & Co.’s new 115,000-sf headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., is one of the first buildings in the state to meet the 2008 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The structure has the largest smart solar array in North America, which will provide nearly all of its electrical energy needs.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category



AEC Tech

Lack of organizational readiness is biggest hurdle to artificial intelligence adoption

Managers of companies in the industrial sector, including construction, have bought the hype of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative technology, but their organizations are not ready to realize its promise, according to research from IFS, a global cloud enterprise software company. An IFS survey of 1,700 senior decision-makers found that 84% of executives anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI. 


Codes and Standards

Updated document details methods of testing fenestration for exterior walls

The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) updated a document serving a recommended practice for determining test methodology for laboratory and field testing of exterior wall systems. The document pertains to products covered by an AAMA standard such as curtain walls, storefronts, window walls, and sloped glazing. AAMA 501-24, Methods of Test for Exterior Walls was last updated in 2015. 

halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021