One Rincon Hill
Encyclopedia
One Rincon Hill is a residential complex on the apex of Rincon Hill
in San Francisco
, California
, United States
. The complex, designed by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates and developed by Urban West Associates, consists of two skyscraper
s that share a common townhouse
podium. One tower, One Rincon Hill North Tower, is planned to reach a height 495 feet (151 m) with 45 stories
. The other tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower, is 60 stories and stands 641 feet (195 m) tall. The South Tower contains a number of unique elements, such as high-speed elevators for moving residents effectively, and a large water tank designed to help the skyscraper withstand strong winds and earthquake
s. Both skyscrapers and the townhomes contain a total of 709 residential units.
The building site, located right next to the western approach of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, formerly contained a clock tower. The clock tower was demolished shortly after the city approved the One Rincon Hill project. Construction of the townhomes and the South Tower lasted from 2005 to 2008, but was stopped for brief periods of time due to seismic concerns and a construction accident. As the South Tower neared completion, it generated controversy concerning blocked views, pricing, and the architectural style of the One Rincon Hill complex.
The complex is on a 1.3 acre (0.5260918 ha) parcel on the apex of the Rincon Hill neighborhood. The site is bounded by Harrison Street to the west, the Fremont Street exit ramp to the north, the approach to the Bay Bridge (Interstate 80) on the east, and the First Street entrance ramp to the south.
Developer and architect
Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates, a Chicago architectural firm, designed the complex. The developer of this complex is Urban West Associates, headed by Mike Kriozere. The developer's headquarters are in San Diego, although all its highrise projects over 14 stories are in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Rincon Hill complex is the developer's second project in San Francisco, with the first being ONE Embarcadero South, a residential complex near One Rincon Hill and across from AT&T Park
. According to the developer the total cost of the Rincon Hill project was US$290 million, rising to over US$310 million in 2009.
Architecture
The complex consists of two buildings joined together at the base by a row of townhomes. The South Tower and North Tower rise 641 ft (195 m) and 495 ft (151 m) above the corner of Fremont and Harrison streets, respectively. The North Tower has 45 floors, while the South Tower has 60. Because of the sloped Rincon Hill site, the South Tower's lobby floor or the First Street entrance is on the sixth floor, and the first floor is five levels underground from the First Street entrance. The skyscraper is one of the biggest additions to the San Francisco skyline in over 30 years. It is also one of the tallest all-residential towers west of the Mississippi River, towering 697 feet (212 m) above San Francisco Bay
.
Both the north tower and the south tower of the Rincon Hill complex bear a resemblance to The Heritage at Millennium Park
in Chicago, a building of a similar height to the south tower also designed by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates. The architectural style for both buildings of the Rincon Hill complex is late-modernist
. The three sides of the South Tower facing southeast, northeast, and northwest have a linear glass curtainwall. The southwest side is curved and clad in white aluminum panels and glass in a pattern resembling Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze, leading to the nickname "Ionic Breeze Tower". The North Tower has a similar design, except it is shorter and the curved aluminum and glass side faces northeast. Both skyscrapers of the Rincon Hill project contain an oval-shaped crown housing mechanical equipment.
The crown of the South Tower contains a band of 25 LED floodlight
s that remain lit all night. Each LED light consumes little energy and has a lifetime of 40,000 hours. These lights are used to signal the weather, just like the lights on the John Hancock Tower
in Boston. The crown glows red if warmer weather is in the forecast. A blue crown signifies that cold weather is expected soon. Green means that there is at least a 50 percent chance of rain. Amber indicates that the weather will remain unchanged. This is the San Francisco Bay Area's first weather beacon
. The crown began lighting up on December 8, 2008.
Earthquake engineering
To support the 60 story condo tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower will have a 12 foot (4 m) thick massive foundation embedded deep into serpentine rock. Although some engineers view serpentine rock with suspicion, there are massive structures, such as the Golden Gate Bridge
, that have foundations on rock that is largely serpentine. Rising out of the foundation are the concrete core and large, tall columns of steel-reinforced concrete called outriggers. The core is attached to large outrigger columns by steel-buckling restrained braces that are designed to transfer building loads in an earthquake. These V-shaped restraining braces are said to act like a shock-absorber during earthquakes. The braces are also encased in a concrete and steel casing in order to prevent the braces from buckling and losing their strength. Many of these engineering technologies used in One Rincon Hill South Tower are new to the United States.
Water tanks
At the top of the building is a large tank holding up to 50,000 gallon
s (189,250 litre
s) of water, weighing 416,500 pound
s (185,440 kg). A similar 50,000 gallon (189,250 liter) tank is located in the basement for firefighting purposes. There are two liquid damper screens in each tank to control the flow of the water to counter the sway from the powerful Pacific
winds, which can reach hurricane-force.
Elevators
The South Tower has one freight elevator and three for residents. The elevators are the second fastest in the city of San Francisco, second only to those in 555 California Street and tied with those in 555 Mission Street
. The elevators of the South Tower can travel from the first floor to level 61 (the mechanical level) in only 26 seconds to speed passenger traffic flow. This means the elevators can travel about 1,200 vertical feet (366 m) in a minute. The elevators have artificial intelligence control systems that figure out passenger traffic patterns and dispatch the three elevators to handle passenger needs accordingly. The bottom of each elevator shaft has a cylinder filled with hydraulic oil to stop a falling elevator without injuring the passengers inside.
Residences
The entire project will provide 695 condos
in the highrises and 14 townhomes at the foot of the towers for a total of 709 units. 376 of those condo units are located in the South Tower and the North Tower contains the other 319 units. Because of their height, both towers will offer spectacular vistas of the surrounding landscapes. There are 26 different floor plan
s for the 695 condos which are financially beyond the reach of many citizens residing in San Francisco. The units vary greatly in price from US$500,000 to depending on view and the size of the unit that range from 600 ft2. The project opened up a sales office on June 16, 2006 and even before the opening, condo-buyers placed deposits for 130 of the South Tower's 376 condo units in a selling spree. The Sales Center is rumored to have cost to build. The condo units in One Rincon Hill South Tower sold well for an unfinished building at that time. The first residents began moving into the South Tower in February 2008. Sales for the North tower are set to begin in early-2009.
and then Bank of America
was built on the site circa 1955. In 2003 Urban West Associates bought the land and later proposed the first version of the complex on the same site. The proposal, named 475 First, consisted of a 28 and 33 story residential tower and would have 506 residential units. After the initial proposal the city changed the zoning in Rincon Hill neighborhood and raised height limits. The developer proposed a second (current) version of One Rincon Hill in response to these zoning changes. The second and final version project was approved by the city on August 4, 2005. Before construction of One Rincon Hill, the clock tower was razed to make way for the construction of the towers.
2005-2006 construction stoppage
About a month after the ceremonial groundbreaking in November 2005, the project was put on hold by San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection and Construction. In addition, about a week after the ceremonial groundbreaking, department Chief Engineer Hanson Tom ordered that construction permits cannot be issued without his authorization. This construction hold came about when staff members of the Department of Building Inspection wanted further assurances about the seismic integrity of One Rincon Hill. Their concerns focused on the core-outrigger structural system of One Rincon Hill, which was new to the city of San Francisco. After additional review, San Francisco's city officials agreed with the structural engineers and construction permits were issued in January 2006, although the San Francisco Chronicle
reported this over a month later.
July 2006 construction accident
On July 21, 2006, a metal construction deck collapsed sometime around 10:45 AM (UTC-7). Two carpenters and two ironworkers were injured when they fell about 20 feet (6 m) along with the deck, sending all four men to the hospital. Three of the men were released that afternoon; one of the ironworkers was kept at the hospital with his leg broken in two places, a broken ankle, and a broken shoulder.
Progress
The South Tower is complete, but the townhomes are still under construction. The South Tower was completed in September 2008, with all residential floors ready for residents. As of, April 2009, 70% of the South Tower's 376 luxury units and 14 townhouses have been sold. Because of the occupancy rate and low profits so far, the developers had initially refused to pay $5.4 million in development fees that would be spent on rent subsidies, job training programs and community development in the South of Market area. However, the developers finally agreed to pay back the city.
The height and placement of the South Tower is also a concern to residents living east to northeast of Twin Peaks
, because new building projects in the South of Market district are located on the line of sight between the Bay Bridge and Twin Peaks. One Rincon Hill South Tower has obstructed the view of the bridge from Dolores Park
and the hillside neighborhoods to its immediate south-southwest. Moreover, the completed structure blocks views of the City's hills once afforded to incoming travelers on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge itself.
The building's architectural design generated a wide range of opinions. Some residents of San Francisco and bloggers of the website SocketSite regarded the South Tower as an elegant structure. However, the website Curbed San Francisco named One Rincon Hill South Tower as the ugliest building in the city, surpassing the San Francisco Marriott Marquis by a wide margin. Based on these remarks, the San Francisco Chronicle
considers this building to be the most controversial landmark in San Francisco since the completion of the Transamerica Pyramid
.
Rincon Hill
Rincon Hill is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills."-Location:...
in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The complex, designed by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates and developed by Urban West Associates, consists of two skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
s that share a common townhouse
Townhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
podium. One tower, One Rincon Hill North Tower, is planned to reach a height 495 feet (151 m) with 45 stories
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
. The other tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower, is 60 stories and stands 641 feet (195 m) tall. The South Tower contains a number of unique elements, such as high-speed elevators for moving residents effectively, and a large water tank designed to help the skyscraper withstand strong winds and earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
s. Both skyscrapers and the townhomes contain a total of 709 residential units.
The building site, located right next to the western approach of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, formerly contained a clock tower. The clock tower was demolished shortly after the city approved the One Rincon Hill project. Construction of the townhomes and the South Tower lasted from 2005 to 2008, but was stopped for brief periods of time due to seismic concerns and a construction accident. As the South Tower neared completion, it generated controversy concerning blocked views, pricing, and the architectural style of the One Rincon Hill complex.
Description
LocationThe complex is on a 1.3 acre (0.5260918 ha) parcel on the apex of the Rincon Hill neighborhood. The site is bounded by Harrison Street to the west, the Fremont Street exit ramp to the north, the approach to the Bay Bridge (Interstate 80) on the east, and the First Street entrance ramp to the south.
Developer and architect
Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates, a Chicago architectural firm, designed the complex. The developer of this complex is Urban West Associates, headed by Mike Kriozere. The developer's headquarters are in San Diego, although all its highrise projects over 14 stories are in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Rincon Hill complex is the developer's second project in San Francisco, with the first being ONE Embarcadero South, a residential complex near One Rincon Hill and across from AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
. According to the developer the total cost of the Rincon Hill project was US$290 million, rising to over US$310 million in 2009.
Architecture
The complex consists of two buildings joined together at the base by a row of townhomes. The South Tower and North Tower rise 641 ft (195 m) and 495 ft (151 m) above the corner of Fremont and Harrison streets, respectively. The North Tower has 45 floors, while the South Tower has 60. Because of the sloped Rincon Hill site, the South Tower's lobby floor or the First Street entrance is on the sixth floor, and the first floor is five levels underground from the First Street entrance. The skyscraper is one of the biggest additions to the San Francisco skyline in over 30 years. It is also one of the tallest all-residential towers west of the Mississippi River, towering 697 feet (212 m) above San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
Both the north tower and the south tower of the Rincon Hill complex bear a resemblance to The Heritage at Millennium Park
The Heritage at Millennium Park
The Heritage at Millennium Park located at 130 N. Garland Court is a relatively new mixed use tower in Chicago. Completed in 2005 with a height of 631 feet and 57 floors, the building was designed by the architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz .The tower's success lies mainly with its location;...
in Chicago, a building of a similar height to the south tower also designed by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates. The architectural style for both buildings of the Rincon Hill complex is late-modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
. The three sides of the South Tower facing southeast, northeast, and northwest have a linear glass curtainwall. The southwest side is curved and clad in white aluminum panels and glass in a pattern resembling Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze, leading to the nickname "Ionic Breeze Tower". The North Tower has a similar design, except it is shorter and the curved aluminum and glass side faces northeast. Both skyscrapers of the Rincon Hill project contain an oval-shaped crown housing mechanical equipment.
The crown of the South Tower contains a band of 25 LED floodlight
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
s that remain lit all night. Each LED light consumes little energy and has a lifetime of 40,000 hours. These lights are used to signal the weather, just like the lights on the John Hancock Tower
John Hancock Tower
The John Hancock Tower, officially named Hancock Place and colloquially known as The Hancock, is a 60-story, 790-foot skyscraper in Boston. The tower was designed by Henry N. Cobb of the firm I. M. Pei & Partners and was completed in 1976...
in Boston. The crown glows red if warmer weather is in the forecast. A blue crown signifies that cold weather is expected soon. Green means that there is at least a 50 percent chance of rain. Amber indicates that the weather will remain unchanged. This is the San Francisco Bay Area's first weather beacon
Weather beacon
A weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember....
. The crown began lighting up on December 8, 2008.
Earthquake engineering
To support the 60 story condo tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower will have a 12 foot (4 m) thick massive foundation embedded deep into serpentine rock. Although some engineers view serpentine rock with suspicion, there are massive structures, such as the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
, that have foundations on rock that is largely serpentine. Rising out of the foundation are the concrete core and large, tall columns of steel-reinforced concrete called outriggers. The core is attached to large outrigger columns by steel-buckling restrained braces that are designed to transfer building loads in an earthquake. These V-shaped restraining braces are said to act like a shock-absorber during earthquakes. The braces are also encased in a concrete and steel casing in order to prevent the braces from buckling and losing their strength. Many of these engineering technologies used in One Rincon Hill South Tower are new to the United States.
Water tanks
At the top of the building is a large tank holding up to 50,000 gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
s (189,250 litre
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
s) of water, weighing 416,500 pound
Pound (mass)
The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
s (185,440 kg). A similar 50,000 gallon (189,250 liter) tank is located in the basement for firefighting purposes. There are two liquid damper screens in each tank to control the flow of the water to counter the sway from the powerful Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
winds, which can reach hurricane-force.
Elevators
The South Tower has one freight elevator and three for residents. The elevators are the second fastest in the city of San Francisco, second only to those in 555 California Street and tied with those in 555 Mission Street
555 Mission Street
555 Mission Street is a 33 story, office tower in the South of Market area of San Francisco, California. Construction of the tower began in 2007 and the tower was finished on September 18, 2008. The building is the first in a new generation of office towers in San Francisco's downtown...
. The elevators of the South Tower can travel from the first floor to level 61 (the mechanical level) in only 26 seconds to speed passenger traffic flow. This means the elevators can travel about 1,200 vertical feet (366 m) in a minute. The elevators have artificial intelligence control systems that figure out passenger traffic patterns and dispatch the three elevators to handle passenger needs accordingly. The bottom of each elevator shaft has a cylinder filled with hydraulic oil to stop a falling elevator without injuring the passengers inside.
Residences
The entire project will provide 695 condos
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
in the highrises and 14 townhomes at the foot of the towers for a total of 709 units. 376 of those condo units are located in the South Tower and the North Tower contains the other 319 units. Because of their height, both towers will offer spectacular vistas of the surrounding landscapes. There are 26 different floor plan
Floor plan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan, or floorplan, is a diagram, usually to scale, showing a view from above of the relationships between rooms, spaces and other physical features at one level of a structure....
s for the 695 condos which are financially beyond the reach of many citizens residing in San Francisco. The units vary greatly in price from US$500,000 to depending on view and the size of the unit that range from 600 ft2. The project opened up a sales office on June 16, 2006 and even before the opening, condo-buyers placed deposits for 130 of the South Tower's 376 condo units in a selling spree. The Sales Center is rumored to have cost to build. The condo units in One Rincon Hill South Tower sold well for an unfinished building at that time. The first residents began moving into the South Tower in February 2008. Sales for the North tower are set to begin in early-2009.
Prelude
The 183 ft (55.8 m) triangle-section clock tower, owned by Union 7676 (Conoco Phillips)
76 is a chain of gas stations located within the United States. The 76 brand is owned by ConocoPhillips. Union Oil Company of California, dba Unocal, the original owner and creator of the Union 76 brand merged with Chevron Corporation in 2005.In 1997, Unocal sold its western United States refining...
and then Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
was built on the site circa 1955. In 2003 Urban West Associates bought the land and later proposed the first version of the complex on the same site. The proposal, named 475 First, consisted of a 28 and 33 story residential tower and would have 506 residential units. After the initial proposal the city changed the zoning in Rincon Hill neighborhood and raised height limits. The developer proposed a second (current) version of One Rincon Hill in response to these zoning changes. The second and final version project was approved by the city on August 4, 2005. Before construction of One Rincon Hill, the clock tower was razed to make way for the construction of the towers.
South Tower
Three months after San Francisco approved the project, construction began on the South Tower and townhouses with a groundbreaking ceremony on November 10, 2005. The South Tower was the second-tallest tower under construction in San Francisco. However, building work began without an approved construction permit from the city's Department of Building Inspection and Construction, and city engineers stopped the project.2005-2006 construction stoppage
About a month after the ceremonial groundbreaking in November 2005, the project was put on hold by San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection and Construction. In addition, about a week after the ceremonial groundbreaking, department Chief Engineer Hanson Tom ordered that construction permits cannot be issued without his authorization. This construction hold came about when staff members of the Department of Building Inspection wanted further assurances about the seismic integrity of One Rincon Hill. Their concerns focused on the core-outrigger structural system of One Rincon Hill, which was new to the city of San Francisco. After additional review, San Francisco's city officials agreed with the structural engineers and construction permits were issued in January 2006, although the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
reported this over a month later.
July 2006 construction accident
On July 21, 2006, a metal construction deck collapsed sometime around 10:45 AM (UTC-7). Two carpenters and two ironworkers were injured when they fell about 20 feet (6 m) along with the deck, sending all four men to the hospital. Three of the men were released that afternoon; one of the ironworkers was kept at the hospital with his leg broken in two places, a broken ankle, and a broken shoulder.
Progress
The South Tower is complete, but the townhomes are still under construction. The South Tower was completed in September 2008, with all residential floors ready for residents. As of, April 2009, 70% of the South Tower's 376 luxury units and 14 townhouses have been sold. Because of the occupancy rate and low profits so far, the developers had initially refused to pay $5.4 million in development fees that would be spent on rent subsidies, job training programs and community development in the South of Market area. However, the developers finally agreed to pay back the city.
North Tower
The remaining north tower was scheduled to begin construction after summer 2008 and be completed in 2009. Originally, construction was supposed to commence in January 2008. Later, the developer mentioned construction was going start in March, but the construction firm wasn't selected at that time. After March, the developer said construction was going to start in May 2008. However, following the worldwide financial crisis of the late summer and fall of 2008, the project's developers announced that construction of the second tower was indefinitely on hold. Although the construction firm was initially identified, the developer was forced to put the second tower on hold until funding could be secured.Criticism
With condo prices set at US500,000 to US$2,000,000, many critics have noted that the One Rincon Hill complex is too expensive for most San Franciscans. With the total initial development cost of US$290 million, the average development cost per unit with 709 units total is approximately US$409,000. However, the developer Urban West Associates has contributed a total of US$38.5 million to funds like the South of Market Community Stabilization Fund in order to address this concern.The height and placement of the South Tower is also a concern to residents living east to northeast of Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks, San Francisco, California
The Twin Peaks are two hills with an elevation of about near the geographic center of San Francisco, California. Except for Mount Davidson, they are the highest points in the city.-Location and climate:...
, because new building projects in the South of Market district are located on the line of sight between the Bay Bridge and Twin Peaks. One Rincon Hill South Tower has obstructed the view of the bridge from Dolores Park
Dolores Park
Mission Dolores Park is a San Francisco, California, city park located in the neighborhood of Mission Dolores, at the western edge of the Mission District, which lies to the east of the park. To the west of the park is a hillside referred to as "Dolores Heights" or considered a part of the Castro...
and the hillside neighborhoods to its immediate south-southwest. Moreover, the completed structure blocks views of the City's hills once afforded to incoming travelers on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge itself.
The building's architectural design generated a wide range of opinions. Some residents of San Francisco and bloggers of the website SocketSite regarded the South Tower as an elegant structure. However, the website Curbed San Francisco named One Rincon Hill South Tower as the ugliest building in the city, surpassing the San Francisco Marriott Marquis by a wide margin. Based on these remarks, the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
considers this building to be the most controversial landmark in San Francisco since the completion of the Transamerica Pyramid
Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
.