Oceanwide Center, San Francisco

Oceanwide Center is a mixed-use skyscraper complex on hold in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California, consisting of two towers.

Design
The taller tower, located at 50 First Street, is expected to rise 910 ft and contain 34 stories (1010000 sqft) of office space below 19 floors with approximately 111 residential units. The base of the tower includes a six-story tall, outdoor "urban room" of public open space. The tower will feature diagonal, exterior bracing and taper towards the top, reminiscent of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. If completed as proposed, the 905 ft tower would become San Francisco's second-tallest building after Salesforce Tower, surpassing the long time record-holder, the Transamerica Pyramid.

The shorter tower, at 512 Mission Street, is planned to climb 605 ft and will contain the 169-room Waldorf Astoria San Francisco hotel on the first 21 floors and approximately 154 residential units on the upper 33 floors.

History
The parcels around 50 First Street were upzoned as part of the Transit Center District Plan approved in 2012 in conjunction with the new Transbay Transit Center. The parcels were originally assembled by developer David Choo and a plan was floated in 2007 for towers as tall as 1200 ft designed by Renzo Piano. Choo was eventually forced to sell the property during the 2008 financial crisis.

In 2013, TMG Partners and Northwood Investors acquired the property out of bankruptcy court for US$122 million. TMG and Northwood hired Foster + Partners and Heller Manus Architects to re-design the project. In 2015, Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings acquired the property for US$296 million. A groundbreaking ceremony for the buildings was held on December 8, 2016.

Construction on the shorter of the two towers was suspended in 2019 due to economic conditions. Subsequently, the construction on the second, taller tower was also halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and had not resumed construction as of May 2024.