West Coast’s Tallest Tower Tops Off

By Ariela Moraru

Aerial view of Salesforce Tower

Salesforce Tower, a $1 billion project reshaping San Francisco’s skyline, is nearing completion. Builders laid the final beam on the 1,077-foot-tall building, which is now the tallest skyscraper on the West Coast.

Salesforce Tower

Located at 415 Mission St., between Fremont and First Streets, the LEED Platinum-certified tower occupies a full city block around the Transbay Terminal. The property has easy access to I-80, I-280 and State Route 101 and all modes of public transportation, including Montgomery and Embarcadero BART stations, CalTrain station, ferries and San Francisco International Airport, which is 13 miles away. The skyscraper features more than 13-foot high ceilings and 10-foot high continuous clear glass.

Developers Boston Properties Inc. and Hines broke ground on the project in 2013. The 1.4 million-square-foot project was designed by architectural firms Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and Kendall Heaton and includes more than 25,000 rentable square feet of retail on the first and fifth floor. Salesforce Tower is next to the Transbay Transit Center, a $6 billion project that will also feature a 5.4-acre rooftop park.

Rendering of Transbay Transit Center rooftop park

CBRE is leading leasing efforts. Salesforce will be the anchor tenant with a 714,000-foot lease and plans to move in early 2018, occupying floors three to 30, as well as the 60th and 61st floors. The tech company is targeting a total of 10,000 employees during the next three years compared to the current 6,600. Salesforce’s urban campus comprises not only the tower, but also two additional office towers, Salesforce East and West, across the streets at 50 Fremont St. and 350 Mission St., as well as Rincon Center and One Market. The top floor of Salesforce Tower will be called the Salesforce Ohana Floor after the Hawaiian word for family, and will be designed as a fully open floor without offices or conference rooms. The Ohana floor will be shared with the community.

Salesforce marked the milestone last week with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Supervisor Jane Kim, Salesforce Chairman & CEO Marc Benioff, Boston Properties Executive Vice President Bob Pester, Hines Senior Managing Director Paul Paradis and local religious and spiritual leaders from the San Francisco Interfaith Council.

Images courtesy of Salesforce Tower and Transbay Transit Center