Number 33: The Peregrine Falcon-topped 77 Beale Street, SoMa, San Francisco

The 33rd tallest skyscraper in the Bay Area planned or built is 77 Beale Street, a 492-foot tall office building serving as the headquarters for the Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation in SoMa, San Francisco. Construction on the building started in the late 1960s and finished with its opening in 1971. Hertzka and Knowles are responsible for the architecture and design.

The whole 1.6 million square foot PG&E office complex across 25 and 77 Beale Street, 245 Market Street, and 50 Main Street received LEED Gold certification in 2014 as a unique multi-structure certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Peregrine Falcon photographed from 77 Beale, image courtesy PG&E

The most well-known tenants for 77 Beale Street are expected to stay, as the top levels have been known to see nesting Peregrine falcons since the late 1980s. PG&E provides a live feed through Earth Cam. Last we checked, three falcons were spotted.

77 Beale Street ground level, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

The plaza courtyard at 77 Beale Street includes an open courtyard with a tree and vertical water feature similar to the innovative rocky waterfall in Manhattan’s Paley Park. The 20-foot wall opened in New York City in 1967 as part of a 4,200 square foot privately owned public park with design by the landscape architecture firm Zion Breen Richardson Associates. Its unique topography creates an ambient noise pleasant to the ear while loud enough to drown out city traffic of 53rd Street and 5th Avenue.

77 Beale Street plaza, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson

PG&E has been operating from San Francisco for nearly as long as California has been a part of the United States. The corporation first started as the San Francisco Gas Company in 1852. The 34-story tower and adjacent 1920s-era properties have long been home to Northern California’s most significant provider of energy and alleged responsibility for wildfires.

In part due to the problem mentioned above and other financial issues, including an 18-month bankruptcy that ended in mid-2020, the corporation announced last year that it plans to move to downtown Oakland, taking over 300 Lakeside Drive, the current headquarters to Bay Area Rapid Transit, i.e., BART. The move is expected to last from 2022 through 2026. TMG Partners is expected to purchase and renovate the Oakland offices to anticipate the energy company’s move to increase cost-efficiency and corporate responsibility.

Earlier evaluations of the property suggest that PG&E, who owns the properties, could earn around a billion dollars in the sale. CBRE is spearheading the project marketing.

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