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| List of tallest buildings in San Francisco | |
|---|---|
| Name | List of tallest buildings in San Francisco |
| Caption | Skyline of San Francisco featuring Transamerica Pyramid and Salesforce Tower |
| City | San Francisco |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
| Tallest | Salesforce Tower |
| Height ft | 1070 |
| Tallest year | 2018 |
List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
San Francisco's skyline reflects development driven by Gold Rush, Panama–Pacific International Exposition, Silicon Valley expansion, and postwar finance consolidation around Financial District, San Francisco. The list compiles high-rises and skyscrapers subject to standards set by international authorities and local agencies, situating structures like Transamerica Pyramid, 555 California Street, and Salesforce Tower within comparative frameworks that also reference projects in Oakland, California, Los Angeles, and New York City. Preservation debates involving San Francisco Planning Department, California Coastal Commission, and historic districts such as Jackson Square, San Francisco influence height outcomes alongside developer interests like Tishman Speyer, Hines Interests, and Stockton Street Partners.
San Francisco, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, hosts a dense cluster of high-rises concentrated in the Financial District, San Francisco, South of Market, San Francisco (SoMa), and along the Market Street corridor. The city's vertical growth narrative intersects with events including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, World War II shipbuilding booms, and the rise of tech corporations such as Salesforce, Twitter, Uber Technologies, and Airbnb. Landmark buildings like the Bank of America Center (San Francisco), One Embarcadero Center, and 555 California Street anchor commercial activity, while cultural institutions like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Contemporary Jewish Museum sit near dense high-rise blocks.
Rankings follow standards adopted by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat and the Emporis Standards, measuring architectural height from base to structural top, including spires but excluding antennae and signage, consistent with precedents set by cases involving Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and One World Trade Center. Local ordinances administered by the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors affect allowable heights through zoning codes and landmark protections tied to districts like North Beach and Presidio of San Francisco. Safety requirements reference codes from the National Fire Protection Association and the International Building Code, while seismic design responds to guidance from the United States Geological Survey and standards by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The current top tier is led by Salesforce Tower (1,070 ft), followed by Transamerica Pyramid (853 ft), 181 Fremont (802 ft), and 555 California Street (779 ft). Other prominent entries include 301 Mission Street, One Rincon Hill, Millennium Tower (San Francisco), 101 California Street, and the Embarcadero Center cluster. Financial institutions occupying these towers include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs, while major tenants also include Deloitte, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, and Cisco Systems. Rankings are dynamic; transactions by firms such as Blackstone Group, Brookfield Properties, and Boston Properties influence ownership and tenancy profiles.
Early skyscrapers emerged after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, with structures like the Pacific Telephone Building and the Russ Building dominating mid-20th-century skylines alongside the Shell Building (San Francisco). The Transamerica Pyramid completed in 1972 reshaped perceptions of verticality until the completion of Salesforce Tower in 2018. Prewar commercial growth involved developers such as Henry P. Huntington and architects including William Wurster and William Wehner. The evolution also links to policy shifts like the 1968 San Francisco Planning Code amendments and preservation movements sparked by the Historic Preservation Commission.
Recent proposals and construction pipelines include projects by developers such as Related Companies (USA), Tishman Speyer, Lendlease, and Hines Interests seeking approvals from the San Francisco Planning Department, Board of Permit Appeals (San Francisco), and occasionally reviewed by the California Coastal Commission when waterfront impacts apply. Notable proposals have included expansions near Transbay Transit Center, the Central Subway (San Francisco) corridor, and rezonings affecting parcels adjacent to Moscone Center and Salesforce Park. Financing and construction contracts often involve firms like Turner Construction Company, Skanska, Bechtel, and Obayashi Corporation.
High-rises concentrate in the Financial District, San Francisco, SoMa, and along Market Street, with secondary clusters in Embarcadero and the Yerba Buena neighborhood near Moscone Center. Uses skew heavily toward commercial office space occupied by corporations including Salesforce, Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc.), Google satellite offices, Oracle Corporation, and Apple Inc., with residential towers such as Millennium Tower (San Francisco), One Rincon Hill, and The Infinity (San Francisco) providing luxury housing. Transit-oriented development interacts with agencies like San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Bay Area Rapid Transit District, and Caltrain to shape mixed-use parcels integrating retail, hospitality brands like Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, and cultural venues including Asian Art Museum.
Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in the city and the second-tallest west of the Mississippi River after Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles, while the Transamerica Pyramid remains an iconic skyline marker and a symbol featured in works by artists such as Ansel Adams and filmmakers linked to Alfred Hitchcock and Francis Ford Coppola. The city's seismic retrofitting initiatives reference events like the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and design innovations by structural engineers from firms like Arup (company), Thornton Tomasetti, and Buro Happold. Controversies over the Millennium Tower (San Francisco) settlement and settlement repairs engaged entities including KPMG, Swinerton Builders, and the San Francisco Superior Court, illustrating intersections of engineering, law, and urban policy.
Category:San Francisco skyscrapers Category:Buildings and structures in San Francisco