Today marks a monumental milestone in the construction of Salesforce Tower, as we “Top Off” the tallest office building west of Chicago and redefine the skyline of San Francisco forever. “Topping Off” is a traditional ceremony in the construction industry, when the last steel beam is signed by stakeholders and construction crews, and is placed on the top of the building. It signifies the near completion of the structural phase of the building, and is an opportunity to thank the construction crews for all their work bringing Salesforce Tower to life over the last four years.
We’re celebrating this milestone today with a press conference featuring our Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Supervisor Jane Kim and Boston Properties Executive Vice President Bob Pester, among other special guests.
This has been an exciting journey for Salesforce. San Francisco — a legendary center of innovation and creativity — has been our home since the company’s beginning. From our adjacent Salesforce East and West offices, we’ve watched Salesforce Tower transform from a hole in the ground into a magnificent, 1,070-foot edifice that will be the heart of our global HQ campus. We are proud to be a part of something that will forever transform the city and its skyline.
The area surrounding Salesforce Tower is quickly becoming the new city center of San Francisco, as development continues to surge and the Transbay Transit Center nears completion. Once completed in late 2017, the Transbay Transit Center will house several modes of transportation and will include an incredible 5.4-acre rooftop area known as City Park, which will feature an outdoor amphitheater, open grass areas, children's play space, a cafe and a restaurant. Salesforce Tower will be one of a few buildings with skybridge access to City Park.
Salesforce is the largest technology employer in San Francisco. As we continue to grow, the 61-story Salesforce Tower will serve as a world-class hub for all of our Ohana — our family of employees, customers, partners and members of the community. The building will include a dedicated Salesforce lobby and entrance, and we will occupy floors 3-30, 60 and 61. We have some exciting plans for the buildout of these floors, especially the top floor, which will be dubbed the “Ohana Floor” and will be a space that all our Ohana — employees, customers, partners and the community — can use. Rather than have the top floor set aside for C-suite offices, we will open up this prime real estate for customer dinners, fundraising events, volunteer activities and more. This design will be replicated in all Salesforce Towers, including those in New York, London and Indianapolis.
As Salesforce continues to grow in San Francisco, so does our ability to give back to the community. We pioneered the 1-1-1 corporate philanthropy model in which Salesforce dedicates one percent of our time, technology and financial resources to nonprofit organizations and causes in the communities where our employees live and work. Yet, what truly makes Salesforce a great place to work are the people. We’re excited to start moving employees into Salesforce Tower by late 2017 or early 2018, and have it be a space where everyone can come together to collaborate, innovate and do the best work of our lives.