San Francisco's iconic Transamerica Pyramid has sold for $711 million, its first sale in history

The 1,040-foot building was detested when it was first built in 1969.

The San Francisco Chronicle architectural critic Allan Temko called it an abomination and "the biggest architectural dunce cap in the world."

Source: SF Gate

It was "the most portentously and insidiously bad building in The City," wrote the San Francisco Examiner Magazine.

Source: SF Gate

It also became the city's tallest building, a feat that fed an ongoing resistance against more tall buildings cluttering the cityscape.

Source: Bloomberg

The public voted to restrict the construction of office high-rises after that, a limitation that still exists today as the office market grows even more squeezed and commercial rents continue to skyrocket.

Source: Bloomberg

Only the biggest tech players can afford dibs on office space — old and new — in the city.

Source: Business Insider

San Francisco's "East Cut" neighborhood specifically has become the city's Big Tech central, with Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn staking their flag in the area.

Source: Business Insider

This is also where Salesforce Tower sits, which eclipsed the Transamerica Pyramid as the city's tallest building when it was completed in 2017.

Source: Business Insider

And like the Transamerica Pyramid, the Salesforce Tower was met with mixed reviews from the public as well as urban and architectural critics when it was built.

Source: Curbed SF

As The New York Times wrote, "the tower is not beautiful, but is impossible to ignore."

Source: The New York Times

The East Cut, SOMA, and the Financial District are most populated with tech offices.

Source: Business Insider

The area in which the Transamerica Pyramid sits is less so. It sits at the southern end of Columbus Avenue, with the North Beach District spanning out from its doorstep.

The tower's design is also a bit dated, as Bloomberg notes. But dated as it may be, it's also solidified its place in the history of San Francisco's iconic architecture.

Source: Bloomberg