McAllister Tower Apartments, Gothic Revival skyscraper in Tenderloin, San Francisco, United States.
McAllister Tower is a 28-story Gothic Revival skyscraper in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, with a facade of pale brick and dark ornamental metal panels. The building operates as student housing managed by the University of California College of Law, with around 300 residents living there.
The building opened in 1930 as the William Taylor Hotel, also housing a Methodist church on its lower floors. During World War II it was taken over for federal government use, beginning a long series of changes in how the tower was occupied.
The Sky Room on the 24th floor was the city's first public viewing lounge, where San Franciscans once gathered to look out over the rooftops. The building now serves students of the University of California College of Law, giving it a quieter, more everyday rhythm than in its hotel years.
The tower stands in the Tenderloin and is easy to spot from the street thanks to its tall Gothic facade. The interior is reserved for residents and authorized visitors, so most people will get a better look by walking around the outside of the building.
Inside the building there is a space called the Great Hall, an original church element that has never been refurbished and still waits to become a performance venue. This means that behind the tower's modern student housing exterior, a piece of the 1930 church interior has survived largely untouched.
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