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Salesforce Tower: SF from the Upper Floors
The view from Salesforce Tower's upper floors puts the whole city in frame — Transamerica Pyramid below you, Alcatraz in the bay, Marin hills across the water.
At 1,070 feet, Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in San Francisco and the second tallest on the West Coast. My wife and I got access to the upper floors on a clear February afternoon, and the views were as good as you’d expect from that height.
The city reads completely differently from up here. The Transamerica Pyramid, which dominates the financial district skyline from the street, sits well below eye level. You can trace the entire waterfront from SoMa to Fisherman’s Wharf. Alcatraz sits in the bay with Marin County behind it. On a clear day like this one, the Golden Gate Bridge is visible in the upper left.
The floors Salesforce occupies have an open feel — large windows on all sides, plants throughout, and a grand piano on one of the observation levels with a stuffed Astro (Salesforce’s mascot character) propped at the keys. It’s a small detail but it made my wife laugh, which is about all you can ask from corporate decor.
There’s a café on one of the floors. We ordered lattes, which came in white cups printed with Astro’s face. The coffee was fine. The view from the café seating made it worth sitting down with.
Getting in means knowing someone at Salesforce. Employees can bring guests up, and it’s the kind of perk worth asking about if you have that connection. The building itself is worth the effort — 61 floors of glass and steel that somehow doesn’t feel cold once you’re inside it. The 4 PM light in February hits the city at a low angle, and on a clear day the visibility stretches from the South Bay to Marin. Ask your Salesforce contact to take you up.