Tishman Speyer acquired the land for the project in 1999. The tower was originally approved by the Planning Commission on April 5, 2001 to rise and 30 stories. A revised plan, adding three stories and raising the height to, was approved on December 13, 2001. However, due to the downturn in the office market after the dot-com bust, developer Tishman Speyer froze the project waiting for economic conditions to improve. In 2006, five years after the building was approved for construction, work on the tower finally began. In January 2008, Tishman Speyer signed DLA Piper to occupy floors 22 to 26 of the tower. In March 2008, law firmGibson, Dunn & Crutcher agreed to take up of office space in the tower. In October 2009, Intellectual Property law firm Novak Druce + Quigg moved into the 34th floor penthouse of the building. As of summer 2008, close to half of the building's office space has been leased, with the possibility of more tenants moving in. In 2010, Deloitte signed a 15-year lease to occupy 10 floors of the building, becoming the anchor tenant, and taking up most of the remaining space. In June 2012, Tishman Speyer sold the building to Union Investment for US$446.5 million.
Design
555 Mission Street is with 33 above ground office floors on a site located on Mission Street. There are two basement levels containing 180 parking spaces in a below-grade parking garage. The entire building is split into three zones, which are referred to as Low Rise, Mid Rise, and High Rise. The Low Rise section contains a -floorplate and the Mid Rise section contains a -floorplate. The highest region, the High Rise, contains a -floorplate. The building does not have a floor numbered thirteen. The floor to ceiling height of the building is. To support the office tower, 555 Mission has a steel frame structure. The metal decks and concrete will support the office floors. Enclosing the steel structure is a glass curtain wall that has protruding glass and metal accent fins. The building was awarded LEEDGold certification by the USGBC, and is San Francisco's first LEED Gold office tower. Examples of green elements within the building are low flow toilets and a reflective roof to deflect solar energy. The developer of the tower is Tishman Speyer. The building fronts on a mid-block plaza between Mission Street and Minna Street. The park, required as part of a public space initiative by the City of San Francisco, features large outdoor sculptures by Ugo Rondinone and Jonathan Borofsky.
