New San Francisco 'Giant'

After nearly six years of development, the 1,070-ft-tall Transbay Transit Tower in San Francisco was brought one step closer to reality on March 27, when project developers Hines, Houston, and Boston Properties, Boston, held a ceremonial groundbreaking upon closing the $192-million land purchase. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, New Haven, Conn., the 60-story building will be the tallest in San Francisco, and it is expected to top the currently underway Wilshire Grand tower in Los Angeles to become the tallest building on the West Coast. The Transbay Transit Tower will adjoin a multimodal transportation hub, also designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli, under construction just to the south of the site. The developers named the joint venture of Clark Construction Group, Bethesda, Md., and Hathaway Dinwiddie, San Francisco, as general contractor for the 1.4-million-sq-ft office tower, which will start construction in early summer.