Number 32: Hilton at 333 O’Farrell Street, Tenderloin, San Francisco

The 32nd tallest building in the Bay Area planned or built is 333 O’Farrell Street in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood by Union Square. The structure rises 493 feet tall to be the tallest structure exclusively for hotel use in the Bay, and was the second of three structures in the full-block Hilton San Francisco complex. 333 O’Farrell opened in 1971 with design by John Carl Warnecke & Associates.

333 O’Farrell Street at night, image circa November 2020 by Andrew Campbell Nelson

The first Hilton Structure to be built on the eastern half of the city block in 1964. After the 46-story tower was complete in 1971 at the intersection with Ellis and Taylor Street, the next addition would not be built until 1988. The Hilton San Francisco offers 1,921 rooms across 1.4 million square feet, along with 135,800 square feet of event space between 44 meeting rooms.

333 O’Farrell Street pinnacle viewed from 5M construction site, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

The architecture of 333 O’Farrell Street reflects the simplified monumentality and ubiquitous approach to materials popular throughout late-60s modernist architecture. The west-facing facade has a prominent inset wall, with hotel room windows between two bulging aluminum-clad sides up until the top nine stories. The opposite-facing side is inset for just half the length and offers open-air balconies on alternating floors.

333 O’Farrell Street, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

The skyscraper is topped with the beloved Cityscape Bar & Lounge, which offers near-panoramic views of the sky to restaurant patrons. The restaurant, which opened in late 2016, plans to open its doors again on the 30th of November.

The building is located along O’Farrell Street, named after Jasper O’Farrell an Irish-American surveyor operating in the Bay Area since the 1830s.

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.

Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail

Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews