Oceanwide Center is a mixed-use

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

complex on hold in the

South of Market South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, so named due to its location south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of ...

neighborhood of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, consisting of two towers.

Design

The taller tower, located at 50 First Street, is expected to rise and contain 34 stories () of office space below 19 floors with approximately 111 residential units. The base of the tower includes a six-story tall, outdoor "urban room" of public open space. The tower will feature diagonal, exterior bracing and taper towards the top, reminiscent of the

John Hancock Center 875 North Michigan Avenue (officially known until 2018 as the John Hancock Center and still commonly referred to under that name) is a 100- story, supertall skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois. Located in the Magnificent Mile district, the ...

in Chicago. If completed as proposed, the tower would become San Francisco's second-tallest building after

Salesforce Tower Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story supertall skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market, San Francisco, South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main ...

, surpassing the long time record-holder, the

Transamerica Pyramid The Transamerica Pyramid is a pyramid-shaped 48-story modernist skyscraper in San Francisco, California, United States, and the second tallest building in the San Francisco skyline. Located at 600 Montgomery Street between Clay and Washingto ...

. The shorter tower, at 512

Mission Street Mission Street is a north-south arterial thoroughfare in Daly City and San Francisco, California that runs from Daly City's southern border to San Francisco's northeast waterfront. The street and San Francisco's Mission District through which ...

, is planned to climb and will contain the 169-room Waldorf Astoria San Francisco hotel on the first 21 floors and approximately 154 residential units on the upper 33 floors.

History

The parcels around 50 First Street were upzoned as part of the Transit Center District Plan approved in 2012 in conjunction with the new Salesforce Transit Center. The parcels were originally assembled by developer David Choo and a plan was floated in 2007 for towers as tall as designed by

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

. Choo was eventually forced to sell the property during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. In 2013, TMG Partners and Northwood Investors acquired the property out of bankruptcy court for . TMG and Northwood hired

Foster + Partners Foster and Partners (also Foster + Partners) is a British international architecture firm with its headquarters in London, England. It was founded in 1967 by British architect and designer Norman Foster. The firm has been involved in the design ...

and

Heller Manus Architects Heller Manus Architects, founded in 1984, is a San Francisco, California-based architecture firm providing architectural, master planning, and urban design services for public and private sector clients. Jeffrey Heller, FAIA is the founding principa ...

to re-design the project. In 2015, Beijing-based

Oceanwide Holdings Oceanwide Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Chinese publicly traded conglomerate. It was a subsidiary of Tohigh Holding, via intermediate holding companies Oceanwide Group and China Oceanwide Holdings Group. Oceanwide Holdings is a constituent of the She ...

acquired the property for US$296 million. A groundbreaking ceremony for the buildings was held on December 8, 2016. Construction on the shorter of the two towers was suspended in 2019 due to economic conditions. Subsequently, the construction on the second, taller tower was also halted in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2024 the sale of the stalled project was blocked by legal disputes.

External links

Oceanwide Center - Foster + Partners

References

{{Buildings in San Francisco, state=collapsed China Oceanwide Holdings Group Skyscrapers in San Francisco Residential condominiums in the United States South of Market, San Francisco Proposed skyscrapers in the United States

Design

History

See also

External links

References