301 Mission Street is a high-rise residential building in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. A mixed-use, primarily residential high rise, it is the tallest residential building and the 6th-tallest overall in San Francisco. Opened to residents on April 23, 2009, 301 Mission includes two buildings: a 12-story tower located on the northeast of the property, and Millennium Tower, a 58-story, 645-foot-tall (197 m) condominium skyscraper. The blue-gray glass, late-modernist buildings are bounded by Mission, Fremont, and deervale Streets, and the north end of the Salesforce Transit Center site. In total, the project has 419 residential units, with 53 of those units in the smaller tower. The larger tower's highest level, 58 floors above the ground, is listed as the 60th, because floors 13 and 44 are missing for superstitious reasons. In May 2016, residents were informed the main tower was both sinking and tilting, resulting in several lawsuits concerning repair costs and whether the existence of the tilt had been withheld from buyers.
Description Developed by Mission Street Development LLC, an affiliate of Millennium Partners, the US$350 million project was designed by Handel Architects, engineered by DeSimone Consulting Engineers and built by Webcor Builders. At 645 feet (197 m), it is the tallest concrete structure in San Francisco, the fourth-tallest building in San Francisco, and the tallest built since 345 California Street in 1986. It was the tallest residential building west of the Mississippi River, but has been surpassed by The Austonian in Texas. The tower is slender, with each floor containing 14,000 square feet (1,300 m2) of floor space. In addition to the 58-story tower, there is a 125-foot (38 m), 11-story tower on the northeast end of the complex. Between the two towers is a 43-foot (13 m), two-story glass atrium. In total, the project has 419 units. The residences are expensive; a penthouse unit sold for $13 million in December 2016. The bottom 25 floors of the main tower are marketed as Residences while the floors from 26 to the top are marketed as Grand Residences. As happens with many high-rises, there is no thirteenth floor because of superstitions related to triskaidekaphobia. Neither is there a forty-fourth floor, because the number four is considered unlucky by many Asians. The 53 units in the separate 12-story tower are marketed as City Residences. Below street level, there are 434 parking spaces in a five-level subterranean garage located under the 11-story tower. The building is located next to the site of the Salesforce Transit Center. The tower's design was marketed as resembling a translucent crystal, and was, until accompanied by much larger adjacent buildings, a landmark for the Transbay Redevelopment and the southern skyline of San Francisco. Resident services include a private concierge and access to the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) Owner's Club Level, which features amenities such as a private lounge, wine cellar, and fitness center. The development's "lifestyle" program organizes cultural events. The development accommodates the International Smoke restaurant and bar, located on the ground floor.
History
Millennium Partners first proposed the development in 2002 with 163 condominiums, 108 rentals and a 136-unit "extended stay" hotel. The project was approved in 2003 by the S.F. Planning Commission 4–1 and construction began in 2005. The only vote against the project came from Planning Commissioner Sue Lee. The development was the first high rise built downtown in 20 years. According to Modern Luxury, a proposed 52-story skyscraper at nearby 80 Natoma by developer Jack Myers which would also have a similar cast in place concrete construction, was rejected by the city's Department of Building Inspections (DBI) after an outside peer review. The Millennium Tower received no such scrutiny, since Millennium Partners would not submit to a peer review, as that study would have potentially delayed construction by years. Treadwell & Rollo, the geotechnical engineer for Millennium Tower, were also the geotechnical engineer for the scrapped project at 80 Natoma. On September 6, 2010, Dan Goodwin, also known as SpiderDan and Skyscraperman, scaled the outside of the tower using suction cups. Following the climb, Goodwin was arrested by the San Francisco police, who charged him with trespassing and creating a public nuisance. In 2013, the building sold its final unit, generating US$750 million in total sales, a 25 percent return on the estimated US$600 million in development costs.
Building sinking and tilting
Discovery
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
