Number 43: 399 Fremont Street, SoMa, San Francisco

399 Fremont Street stands at the intersection with Harrison street tied with two other contenders as the 43rd tallest building in the Bay Area built or planned. The curtain wall-wrapped tower rises to a pinnacle of 440 feet tall in SoMa, according to construction contractors Swinerton, matched by 500 Folsom and the adjacent 340 Fremont. The building contributes 447 rental apartments into the Bay Area housing market. UDR is the project developer.

399 Fremont Street entry, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

Solomon Cordwell Buenz is responsible for the design. The base of 399 Fremont is clad with strips of curtain wall and aluminum panel pilasters. The strength expressed with this massing contrasts with the tower’s twin-point petal floorplates. By doing this, SCB exclaims that the project “successfully bridges the varying scales that exist between the district’s lower, downhill residential buildings and the large towers on Rincon Hill’s summit.”

399 Fremont Street podium, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

399 Fremont Street detail, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

San Francisco-based Swinerton was hired as the construction firm. Swinerton referenced their experience working on the eye-catching NEMA apartment complex in the Civic Center neighborhood around City Hall as being an important project to learn how to work with off-shore curtain wall manufacturers on such large-scale projects. In a blog post, the firm explains that “when building in a high-density urban environment such as downtown San Francisco, expertise in space use, material planning, permitting, curtain walls, and neighborhood relations is essential to a successful and smooth delivery.” This experience became helpful, taking the once-stalled project to be in the first wave of towers rising on Rincon Hill. The doors opened to residents in 2016. The project received LEED Silver certification.

399 Fremont Street base with the Bay Bridge visible to the right down Harrison Street, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

The 42-story building contains 560,000 square feet, with approximately 360,000 square feet dedicated to the rental apartments. Units have an average size of around 800 square feet. For commuters, the building includes on-site parking for bicycles and 251 vehicles. Walking residents will reach the Embarcadero BART station in ten minutes on foot and the Embarcadero & Harrison light rail stop in seven minutes.

399 Fremont pool, image by Bruce Damonte courtesy Solomon Cordwell Buenz

The on-site program offers an expansive list of amenities. There is a rooftop terrace, an on-site library, a spa, a fitness center, a spinning studio, a wine cellar, a media lounge, and a clubhouse. The top of the eight-story podium will feature a lap pool surrounded by seating, a grill area, and landscaping. Dog-loving residents will be happy to have a pet park attached to the site at ground level, facing the street though closed to the public.

399 Fremont Street rooftop terrace, image by Bruce Damonte courtesy Solomon Cordwell Buenz

The property sold in 2009 for $41.8 million. The new building permits had an estimated construction cost of $114 million, though UDR announced the full project cost to be $317 million, all expenses considered. City assessors have most recently valued the property to be worth $400 million.

399 Fremont Street viewed from Harrison and 1st, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

Today’s story is part of a weekly series on SFYIMBY to count down the 52 tallest towers in the Bay Area built or planned as of January 2021.

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