550-Foot Block 5 Tower And Terraces In Context
November 21, 2014
As we first revealed last week, the designs for the proposed 550-foot office tower to rise on the northeast corner of Howard and Beale, also known as Transbay Block 5, have been revised and now include a series of large terraces on both the northwest and southeast corners of the building.
And we now have a couple more renderings to share, proving additional context with respect to the size of the aforementioned terraces and the tower relative to 181 Fremont and the Salesforce Tower rising.
The proposed Transbay Block 5 tower designs will continue to be refined through the middle of next year and construction is currently anticipated to commence in February 2016, with occupancy and patio furniture slated for late 2018.
Comments from Plugged-In Readers
Comments are closed.
Side question: Is it just me or do the proportions of both the Transbay Tower and 181 Fremont look off? The former looks thinner and more tapered than I remember, and the latter thicker and more boxy (maybe it’s just less angular from this angle though).
Yeah it looks a little… off. I’m pretty sure the transbay tower has a slit at the top. Also, 181 Fremont’s roof looks a lot like the Millenium Tower. Where is the spire?
Nitpicking aside, it does convey the sense of scale well- it’s going to be a beautiful, urban area when it’s finished.
You put all of these new buildings together and it’s really going to look like a very different city in a few years.
I guess I understand the intent to portray this building relative TBT and 181 Fremont, but it really doesn’t provide you a very good overall context when you consider that there will also be a whole lot of other buildings between the subject and the camera’s eye in this perspective.
This shows the area across the street from Block 5 as a park, which it won’t be – at least not abutting the street, which will be another building.
Marc Benioff will have the greatest view in all SF.
No, Salesforce is leasing the lower half of the building.
[Editor’s Note: While Salesforce will occupy the bottom 30 floors of the Salesforce/Transbay tower, their lease includes the very top floor as well.]
Not that it really matters but why is Mt. Diablo and the East Bay visible in this north facing view?
Great observation! I laughed. Who put this image together?!
The street orientation is northeast, not straight north, as it runs parallel to Market.
I believe those are Mt. Tamalpais and Marin
I have to agree with mwsf. That’s definitely the view of Mt. Diablo and the East Bay from San Francisco. I see a version of it every time I look across the bay from the the hills in and around my neighborhood in Noe Valley. I have a dog so I see the view of the East Bay several times a day. That image of SF, however, is definitely looking north.
If that’s Mt. Tam why is there development all over Angel Island?
I keed, I keed.
I think that the large terrace space is going to work well with the park that’s going in across the street. It’s a great idea for that location.
except, there’s not going to be a park across the street.
(BTW, Editor – I’m having a lot of problems with SocketSite “timing out” when making comments… )
Isn’t the temp. transbay terminal across the street going to be turned into a park?
Just the middle part. The northern end (across the street from this tower) is zoned for a 450′ building. The southern end (along Folsom) is zoned for something smaller.
that’s MT tam
Tam looks nothing like that. source: looking out my north-facing window in Embarcadero Center right now.
No, these other guys are right. Mt. Tam would be off screen to the left from this angle and much closer.
It’s Mt Diablo. Because the little dome hill above 181 Fremont is Round Top at Sibley Volcanic Preserve. Also you can see the area that is void of trees farther down toward the right. They area is off of hwy 13.
Let’s agree that the person who worked on that rendering was hoping nobody would notice, operating under some strange delusion. The towers look great though.
Haha. The weird thing is that one would think that Angel Island/Marin/etc. would also be an appropriately scenic backdrop.
Looks awesome. Block 5 is an office tower? How about zoning one of those terrace levels for a bar/restaurant or some other kind of public space.
I like the design , though I was also not against the more Future looking design ,,,
Salesforce Tower – UUGHH
Agreed. The SOM design was so far superior with its lattice work overlay. The boring Pelli proposal won only because they offered way more money only a fraction of which they are now actually going to pay.
This area will be dark and windswept when these are built out. Only bright spot is the cap kicking in which will basically end such huge office towers from being built in the future.
The cap will most likely kick in just in time for the economy to slow down. Remember, Prop. M allows “rollover” minutes.. so any space not built during a down economy can be saved up and built at a later date. That means when the economy picks back up, there will be millions of sq. ft. of space waiting for prime development.
This area will be terrific and busy when these are all built out. Only potential dark spot is the cap kicking in which will hinder the city’s economic growth if it prevents these towers from being built in the future.
Yeah, just like that dead zone “midtown Manhattan” – given how no one wants to live or work in midtown Manhattan, and property values there have plummeted due to all the buildings there, you’d think other cities would learn…
(/s)
I’m not against high rise construction, but some of us moved here to S.F. because we no longer wanted to live in Midtown Manhattan. I have no problem with the financial district of this city having more high rises, but I do think neighborhoods like mine (The Marina) are desirable because they have views, sunlight, and still have density and architectural heritage.
Nobody is suggesting a high rise in the Marina.