Standing at the Salesforce Tower’s foot, 100 First Plaza is not among the city’s most recognizable structures. By comparison, it almost appears short. Yet, with a pinnacle 447 feet above street level, it is the 42nd tallest building in the Bay Area built or planned. The tower, located at 100 First Street in SoMa, opened in 1988 with a postmodernist design from the office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
100 First Plaza, image from Patrinely Group LLC
The 27-story office building remains active in the city market. It was opened by the project developer Patrinely Group LLC, with an estimated construction job value of $62 million. It received LEED Gold Certification in 2009. According to city records, the 460,580 square foot building last sold in 2010 for $196 million. Kilroy is the current owners and managers. Pedestrians will find inside the podium two floors of retail and restaurants, as well as a beloved public sun terrace on the second level.
100 First Plaza interior, image from Patrinely Group LLC
100 First Plaza, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
SOM is the project architect. With 100 First Plaza, the firm employed the then-popular architectural style of postmodernism. The angular pattern steps back to create the dramatic profile stripped of ornamentation. Conceptually, the scheme is as if Eliel Saarinen’s 1922 Tribune Tower submission swallowed a modern skyscraper. This is just the second postmodernist design to show up in the SFYIMBY countdown, preceded by the 436-foot 55 Fourth Street.
100 First Plaza, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Construction was contracted out to Swinerton. The building has a roof height of 384 feet, while its 62-foot spire is what has pushed it to become the 42nd tallest skyscraper in our countdown. 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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IMHO, it’s one of the ugliest buildings in San Francisco.