345 California Street
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
345 California Street, 345 California Center, or to locals Tweezer Towers is a 48 story, 695 ft. (212 m) located in the heart of San Francisco's financial district. Completed in 1986, it is San Francisco's third-tallest building after the Bank of America building and the Transamerica Pyramid, but only the Tweezers of the building poke above the rest the downtown skyscrapers. However, it is the tallest building constructed in San Francisco in the 1980s. The tower itself is located in the middle of a block with four historical buildings on each of the four corners. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel occupies the top 10 floors of the tower, in which consists of twin towers twisted at 45 degree angles (compared to the rest of the building) and the two are connected by skybridges, offering dramatic views from the Financial District of the Bay Area.
Other interesting facts about 345 California Street:
• The tower would have been taller had it not been for San Francisco's height restrictions
• Space in the tower is allotted as follows:
2 subterranean levels of parking garages
1st - 4th floor: retail and lobbies
5th - 35th floor: offices
36th - 37th floor: mechanical levels
38th - 48th floor: Mandarin Oriental Hotel
• The tower is sheathed in gray and white polished granite
• The tallest mid-block skyscraper in San Francisco
• The top eleven floors were originally built as condominiums, but were converted to hotel use during construction
• The Robert Dollar Building and JH Dollar Building, both former headquarters for large shipping companies, are located at the northeast and northwest corners of the block
