Projects unfold in San Francisco, San Diego.

Otis Job in San Francisco Represents a Worldwide First

Otis has been selected to outfit the new Oceanwide Center in downtown San Francisco (ELEVATOR WORLD, October 2016) with 53 elevators and escalators. It will be the first development in the world to use the Otis CompassPlus® destination-dispatch system, which will allow the elevators to “more efficiently manage incoming, outgoing and interfloor traffic without having passengers travel back to the lobby or inconvenient transfer floors.” Scheduled to open in 2022 in the South of Market neighborhood, Oceanwide Center consists of a 625-ft.-tall, 54-story residential/hotel and a 910-ft.-tall, 61-story residential/office tower along First Street. Otis Americas President Tom Vining said, “Our innovative teams of engineers and local service people are committed to helping make Oceanwide Center a key component of San Francisco’s growing allure as a leading 21st-century global city.”

Construction Ready to Start on Huge San Diego Project

A huge redevelopment of formerly U.S. Navy-owned properties on the San Diego waterfront is ready to enter the construction phase after decades of planning and years of delays, The Architect’s Newspaper reported in May. The US$1.5-billion project, known as Manchester Pacific Gateway, will bring more than 3 million sq. ft. of mixed-use development and a 1.9-acre park to eight oceanfront city blocks. It will include a 17-story tower that will serve as a new Navy headquarters; a 1,100-room convention hotel and a 260-key luxury hotel; 29-, eight- and six-story office towers; and 290,000 sq. ft. of retail space. One of the tower blocks will have two towers connected by a skybridge, and other structures will feature stepped-back facades and punched openings. The two largest building clusters will have four-story podiums that anchor the towers, with both podium levels topped with terraces and garden amenities, including an elliptical swimming pool.

The project is being developed by Manchester Financial Group, based in San Diego. Several of the office structures are set for completion in late 2020, with the rest of the project expected to be finished by the middle of 2021.