McAllister Tower Apartments

McAllister Tower Apartments, also known as the William Taylor Hotel, is a 28-story, 94 m (308 ft) residential apartment skyscraper at 100 McAllister Street in San Francisco, California. The property is owned and operated by the UC Law SF. The tower includes mixed-use offices on various floors, student residences and the Art Deco-styled "Sky Room" with a panoramic view on the 24th floor. The hotel was named in honor of William Taylor, a Methodist missionary who served in San Francisco during the California gold rush. Conceived as an unusual combination of a large church surmounted by a hotel, construction of the building brought architectural dispute. Initially designed by Timothy L. Pflueger in the Gothic Revival style, the investors fired his firm and hired Lewis P. Hobart, who changed little of Pflueger's design. In a resulting lawsuit, Pflueger won nearly half the damages he asked for. The building opened in 1930 as the William Taylor Hotel and Temple Methodist Episcopal Church. However, extra construction expenses had put the congregation at greater financial risk, and the church-hotel concept did not prove popular. No profit was made in six years, and the church left, losing their investment. In the late 1930s the building housed the Empire Hotel, known for its Sky Room lounge, then from World War II to the 1970s, 100 McAllister served as U.S. government offices. Reopening as university housing and offices in 1981, McAllister Tower is home to some 300 law students and their families. "The Tower" is sited one block from the administrative and scholastic center of UC LAW SF (formerly UC Hastings College of the Law) and is the most prominent building in the district. It is a contributing property to the National Register of Historic Places's Uptown Tenderloin Historic District since 2009.