Salesforce Tower

Overview

Salesforce Tower, once called Transbay Tower, is a very tall building in San Francisco. It has 61 stories and is 1,070 feet tall, making it the tallest building in the city. The building looks like an obelisk and has special metal fins on its sides. Architect César Pelli designed it, and it was finished in 2018.

Location and Tenants

The tower is at 415 Mission Street in the South of Market area. Its main tenant is Salesforce, a company that makes cloud-based software. The building was part of a big plan to redevelop the area around the Salesforce Transit Center. Building work started in 2013 and ended in 2018. It cost over $1.1 billion.

Design and Features

Salesforce Tower is a green building. It saves water and has systems to clean the air. At the top, there is a public art light sculpture with 11,000 LEDs. Each evening, it shows video animations that can be seen from up to 30 miles away. The building sits on reclaimed land, with strong pillars going deep into the bedrock for support.

Site

Salesforce Tower is located at 415 Mission Street between First and Fremont Street, south of Market Street in the Financial District of San Francisco. The building's land lot is rectangular and covers 50,514 ft² (4,692.9 m²).

The tower is next to the Salesforce Transit Center, a big transit station that replaced the old San Francisco Transbay Terminal. The old terminal was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The tower is also close to the Millennium Tower.

Architecture

Salesforce Tower was designed by architect César Pelli and developed by Hines Interests Limited Partnership and Boston Properties. It is 61 stories tall and has 1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m²) of space. The building has an observation area on the 61st floor for employees and guests, and it is sometimes open to the public.

The top of the tower has a light display called "Day for Night" by artist Jim Campbell. This light show shows colors, videos, and star patterns, and it can be seen from far away. It includes special shows for events like Lunar New Year and Pride.

History

The Salesforce Tower was chosen as the winner of a global competition in 2007. The developer, Hines Interests Limited Partnership, worked with architect César Pelli. In 2012, Boston Properties joined as a partner and later became the main owner.

Construction started in 2013 after the old San Francisco Transbay Terminal was torn down. Salesforce.com became the main tenant in 2014, and the building was renamed Salesforce Tower. The tower opened in 2018 with 61 floors and stands 1,070 feet (326 meters) tall. Many companies moved in, including WeWork, Bain & Company, and Accenture.

Critical reception and recognition

When Salesforce Tower opened in January 2018, an architecture critic named John King said it was "immense but understated." He thought it was a special building that helped change how San Francisco looks.

In 2019, a group called the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat chose Salesforce Tower as the best tall building in the world. Later, in 2025, the building won another award for being well-managed and friendly to the environment.

Main article: Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat