Inside the multi-million-dollar of San Francisco’s newly-opened tower

Katie Canales/Business Insider

The newest member of San Francisco’s iconic skyline is officially open for use.

The new tower opened in May and is notable because it houses one commercial tenant, Facebook, and 55 multi-million-dollar residences, including a five-bedroom $42 million penthouse that’s still under construction.

Developers held high expectations for how fast the condos would sell —expectations that would seem to have borne out, since the first condo just sold for $15 million. The sale of the 3,326-square-foot, three-bedroom unit breaks the city’s record for highest price-per-square-foot sale for a condo, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.

Construction on the mixed-use tower at 181 Fremont began in 2013. It can be spotted in the skyline by its striking spire and encasement of beams criss crossing along the exterior, designed to act as shock absorbers in the event of an earthquake.

The developers and designers behind the high rise set out to make the establishment the embodiment of state-of-the-art luxury living and world-class engineering. 

Business Insider toured two of its model residences designed by renowned designers Orlando Diaz-Azcuy and Charles de Lisle and the Sky Lounge exclusive to residents, as well as captured the panoramic views of the sprawling city of San Francisco afforded to the building’s occupants. Take a look at what it’s like inside.

Those zig-zagged beams you see comprise an aluminum exoskeleton that serves as the building’s foundation, acting as giant shock absorbers essentially, improving its survival odds in the case of an earthquake. The elevators are actually designed as an emergency evacuation route.

Jay Paul Company

“We joke that if there is a seismic event, people would run into the building,” said Matt Dietsch, senior director of developments at The Mark Company, which provided sales and marketing services for the establishment.

Mirrors and wall hangings in the lobby and throughout the building are cast in, you guessed it, more gold. These Orlando Diaz-Azcuy-designed gold sconces were crafted through various steps: each piece of the nest-like ornament was sculpted, hand-painted and laden with sand for an extra texture before being set in place.

Katie Canales/Business Insider

Source: 181 Fremont Residences

A unique characteristic throughout the residences are its hovering walls.

Katie Canales/Business Insider

Matt Lituchy, chief investment officer of the building’s developer, Jay Paul Company, told Business Insider in a 2016 interview that the floating walls were costly, but Diaz-Azcuy liked the element of lightness they added.

“It’s one of the first things designers want and developers throw out,” Lituchy said. But the developer easily folded. “Whatever [Diaz-Azcuy] said, we went along with,” he added.