Embarcadero Center

The downtown waterfront district where the Embarcadero Center now sits was once known as the Barbary Coast, an area that had a colorful history during the Gold Rush era. This rather raucous area thrived until the second decade of the 20th century, when the mayor decided it was finally time to clean it up.

For a while, the waterfront area became the Produce District. By the 1950s, however, urban renewal was in full swing and the idea for a mixed-use center – dubbed a city within a city - was devised.

The five towers of the Embarcadero Center went up slowly, beginning in 1968 and completed in 1983. Further expansion of the center occurred in the late 1980s.

Today, San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center is the largest mixed-use complex in the Western United States. The main center is composed of five office towers and three interconnected shopping levels within four towers, designed by architect John C. Portman Jr. Portman believed in integrating fine architecture with fine art and made sure a wonderful public art collection was part of the Embarcadero Center.

The heart of the Embarcadero center are four office towers built in a distinctive but consistent form of the international style. They are positioned next to each other with the outer two being the tallest at about 570ft / 173m and 45 stories. The two central towers have 30 and 31 stories respectively and top out at 413ft or 126m.

In all, more than four million square feet of office space spanning eight city blocks is available to tenants at the center. More than 14,000 people work within the complex on a daily basis. Many major national and international companies occupy this prime office space.

Currently, 120 shops and restaurants are located within the walls of the Embarcadero Center, ranging from popular chain stores and eateries to tony boutiques offering today’s latest fashions. There’s also a cinema, and the center is often host to special events including music festivals, art exhibits, garden shows, a summer concert series, and more. Two hotels with a total of more than 1,100 rooms are also found within the Embarcadero Center.

The Embarcadero Center is located between the financial center and the waterfront, near the Ferry Building.