1151

Francisco

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The Yard, a food and retail center made out of up-scaled shipping containers, sits near AT&T Park. OpenScope Studio provided construction administration services for the project. / OpenScope Studio

Pelli Architects , and developed by Boston Properties and Hines , the tower is expected to open next year. Other lessees include CBRE Group Inc., a global real estate broker, management consulting firm Bain & Co., and financial services firm Vy Capital, according to the San Francisco Business Times . “We don’t see that market slowing down in the near future.” The Salesforce Tower is but one of a handful of towers proposed around the Transbay Transit Center, a massive redevelopment of the city’s transportation hub, scheduled for completion late next year. Shiles, a veteran of the San Francisco scene for decades, says the Transbay redevelopment project is a “huge deal,” but in regard to the neighboring Salesforce Tower, he sees just dollars and cents, not necessarily inspiration. “It’s tall, but it’s not that tall,” Shiles says of the tower. “This is pretty much an economic prospect. This is not one of those cultural, ego moments. This is what the economy called for.” Along with techmoney and private equity, the San Francisco See SAN FRANCISCO, page 8

project, and his firm was there alongside big names like Foster + Partners and Lake|Flato Architects , something that wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago. “The competition here is brutal, just brutal,” says Shiles. “It’s clear that a lot of firms are opening here.” To keep pace with demand, his firm has hired as many as 40 people, and now stands at more than 100 employees. In terms of recruiting, WRNS has hired designers from around the world – Ireland, Korea, China, Japan, Mexico, Argentina, and France. “The whole nature of the practice has been energized,” Shiles says. As firms scramble for work, and as firms compete for market share, mergers and acquisitions have also been on the rise. A key transaction took place in 2012, when San Francisco-based Daniel Solomon Design Partners merged with Seattle-based Mithun. An example of what’s taking place in San Francisco, at least in the office segment of the market, is perhaps best embodied by the 1,070-foot Salesforce Tower – when completed it will be the city’s tallest – named after one of the most innovative tech companies in the world. The cloud computing and business management company leased the bottom 30 floors and the 61st-floor penthouse, about 714,000 square feet. Designed by Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke

May 9, 2016, ISSUE 1151

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