San Francisco Towers Challenge Empire State Building

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- San Franciscans soon may have to crane their necks back a bit farther to gaze up at the city's tallest buildings.

City officials are pushing for construction of two office and residential towers of 1,200 feet (366 meters) or more -- at least 80 stories. They would dwarf the Transamerica Pyramid, which at 853 feet has been the tallest building in San Francisco since 1972.

The new structures would challenge the 1,250-foot height of the Empire State Building in New York, the second-tallest U.S. building. It's ``imperative'' for San Francisco to keep pace as super-tall towers spring up around the globe, Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

``Tall buildings are symbols of cities that don't want to be left behind in a competitive world,'' architect Daniel Libeskind, who worked on designs for towers to replace Manhattan's World Trade Center, said in an interview.

The Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which is supervising redevelopment of the Transbay Terminal site, this morning chose a design by architect Cesar Pelli and named Houston-based developer Hines as the builder. Pelli and Hines prevailed among three groups vying to build a tower as high as 1,375 feet at the southeast corner of First and Mission streets, near the financial district in the South of Market neighborhood.