The skyscraper that will soon be one of the tallest structures west of the Mississippi river is for now just a dusty plot. Cranes are installing an earthquake-proof foundation on the edge of San Francisco’s compact downtown, while a worker in an orange uniform by the main gate waves passing office workers around incoming and outgoing construction machinery.
When it is finished in about 2016, the 61-storey, 1,070ft-tall Salesforce Tower will be one of many new skyscrapers that will dramatically – and controversially – change the skyline of this hilly, foggy, techie city, whose real estate market is best known and loved for its colourful “painted ladies” (Victorian houses) and dramatic views of San Francisco Bay.
The city’s booming technology sector has attracted billions of dollars in investment and thousands of new workers, and although the city lacks the maddening crowds of London and New York, it is running near its own limited capacity: 800,000 residents hemmed in on a peninsula measuring roughly seven by seven miles.