The San Diego Screwdriver!

If you haven't been to San Diego recently, you wouldn't recognize the downtown area. New development is everywhere. While Petco Park, the new state of the art baseball stadium has grabbed all of the headlines, One America Plaza is still the coolest thing in town.

Standing in stark contrast to San Diego's traditional Spanish Mission architecture and other 1960's and 1970's era buildings, One America is gorgeous modern building with commanding views of the bay and Coronado island.

It has a distinctive look that is sometimes compared to a phillips screwdriver!

The Irvine Company bought it last year for $300 million.

Some links:

One America Plaza [Emporis]

One America Plaza [Official Site]

Cool Blog of the Day!

Through the magic of Technorati, I stumbled across a killer blog called "High-Rise Living" that focuses on... well, yeah: High-Rise Living! (in Chicago). In addition to lots of great insights, it's got terrific photos and great scoop!

The blog is part of Yo Chicago! which is an amazing resource for all things real estate in Chicago... kind of like a "Curbed" for the Windy City.

(Although the editors and staff probably wouldn't appreciate the comparison because they put out such a good product on their own! )

I'm on the record with my favorite building in Chicago, but a few more visits to this blog might change my mind! It's well worth a bookmark!

High-Rise Living [Blog link]

PS: I almost forgot... GO BEARS!

This Building is No "Mistake on the Lake": Cleveland, OH.

Cleveland's 57 story Key Tower is the tallest building between Chicago and New York. Designed by Cesar Pelli, it has the classic look of the archetypal skyscraper, with clean lines and an ornate crown. Key Tower actually reminds me a lot of Prudential Plaza in Chicago and Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta (both of which are Fred Wehba buildings... maybe he might want to snap up Key Tower, too!)

The tower, developed by the R.E. Jacobs Group, was originally built as the Society Center, and was renamed when KeyCorp acquired Society Bank. The tower faces two of downtown Cleveland's most significant public spaces, Public Square and Mall A.

Links:

Key Tower [Emporis]

Key Tower [clevelandskyscrapers.com]

Key Tower [wikipedia]

This Guy Gets It!

I came across a really cool blog post this morning by a guy who was visiting New York. I totally "get" what he says about the effect that buildings can have, not only on a skyline or a city-scape, but on the whole vibe of a city. That's what makes buildings so cool--not only are they beautiful to look at, but they give everything around them an energy and a context.

I wish I could write as well as this guy! Here's what he had to say:

"What gives Manhattan its special character is found at the macro-level,
the mountain landscape created by its buildings – plunge down Broadway from
Columbus Circle down toward Times Square. The skyscrapers are densely textured and enormously deep. The older buildings and the newer buildings have
back-layering of their stories – they look more than anything else on the East
Coast or, really, east of the Rockies, like the glaciated crags of the Sierra
Nevada. Despite a spurt of pure modernism, Manhattan skyscrapers are not merely monolithic rectangular prisms stood on end. They taper back as they gain in height, often dramatically so, and the effect of narrowing the top floors
relative to a building's footprint on the ground floor is to make the buildings
feel as though they were leaping upwards, creating a sense of grandeur that is
very much akin to the mountains of the West."

(The links in the above quote are my insertions, not his, fyi...)

Manhattan is the eastern Sierra Nevada of the East Coast [Kenneth Anderson's blog]

One Hot Building!- Miami, FL

Wachovia Financial Center in Bayfront Park in Downtown Miami is the signature building on the Miami skyline. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it is also one of the signatue buildings in Ameriaca!

According to Emporis:

The building has won the TOBY Building of the Year Award in 1990, 1996 and 1999, and in 1997 was chosen by the Wall Street Journal as one of the 50 best buildings in the United States.

55 stories tall, the waterfront building as a unique modern design.

According to Wiki, "The Wachovia Financial Center can be seen as faraway as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini."

Links:

Wachovia Financial Center [Emporis]

Wachovia Financial Center [Official Web Site]

Wachovia Financial Center [Wikipedia]

Wachovia Financial Center [Skyscraper Page.com]

What a photo!

I came across this photograph this morning on photo.net. It's called "Downtown Palm Trees" and the photogrpaher is Mike Derban.

Often, sculpture and accompanying artwork complete the entire aesthetic picture of a beautiful building. This is one of the better examples!

Downtown Palm Trees [Photo.net]

Standing Out in Indianapolis.

I don't know why I didn't think of this yesterday, but with the Colts' big win on Sunday and their upcoming Super Bowl matchup against the Chicago Bears, I really should showcase Indianapolis (I already posted about Prudential Plaza in Chicago).

In Indy, there are really only two buildings that stand out on the skyline: the Chase Tower and the One America Tower. So, what do do? Flip a coin? Hardly. One America is cool, but it is NO Chase Tower!

At 49 stories, it is the tallest building in town, but for me, its signature architectural component makes it special. Atop the building are two spires. One serves as a communications antenna and the other is purely decorative. Whenever I see a picture of this bulding, I can't help but think-- as painful as it may be-- of the World Trade Center and its trademark antenna.

The oveall design of the tower, was meant to mimic that of the nearby War Memorial.

Blackstone Real Estate Partners acquired the property in November 2006 when it bought out Chicago's Equity Office Properties Trust for $36 billion!

Here are some links:

Chase Tower [Emporis]

Chase Tower [Wikipedia]

Chase Tower [Equity Office Properties]

St. Louis's Metropolitan Square.

Thanks to my buddy Sean, in St. Louis who sent me a photograph of Metropolitan Square after seeing the post about Milwaukee's 100 E. Wisconsin. Metropolitan Square definitely has the same look and feel to it and, in city whose skyline is famous for the Gateway Arch, this building truly stands out!

42 stories high, with a massive pedestrian arcade, a 40' lobby, and a signature green crown, Metropolitan Square is clearly on the list for me when I'm next in St. Louis. (The demands of this unusual hobby of mine just seem to keep growing!)

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the building was sold in 2005 for $166 million to a private investment partnership.

One bit of trivia: According to Emporis, Metropolitan Square is home to the largest architecture firm in the world, HOK.

Here are some links:

Metropolitan Square [Emporis]

Metropolitan Square [SkyScraper Page]

Wells Fargo is Tops in Houston, TX!

How can you not give the nod to the Wells Fargo Plaza for the coolest building in Houston, TX?

According to Emporis, at 71 stories, it is the tallest all-glass building in the Western Hemisphere! And its footprint is the shape of a dollar sign... (this wasn't the Enron headquarters was it? No? Good!)

The building has terrific, clean lines that make it appear to rise effortlessly out of the ground. Not surprisingly, it dominates the Houston skyline.

Links:

Wells Fargo Plaza [Emporis]

Wells Fargo Plaza [Company Web site]

Wells Fargo Plaza [Glass and Steel and Stone]

The Royal Treatment in Milwaukee, WI

If you haven't been to Milwaukee, you're missing out (just make sure you go in the spring or summer when it's warm). One of the true "sleeper cities" in America, Milwaukee is a blast and it flies under the radar for most people.

In downtown Milwaukee is a really cool building that-- I don't know how else to say it-- looks like a castle! 100 East Wisconsin, the 37 story office tower built on the site of the old Pabst Tower, LS3P Associates in the German Vernacular style.

(It actually reminds me a lot of Figueroa Tower in Los Angeles).

Links:

100 East Wisconsin [Emporis]

100 East Wisconsin [Glass Steel and Stone]

100 East Wisconsin [Artefaqs.com]

Hail Columbia!-- Seattle, WA

When you think about Seattle, WA, you probably envision the "Space Needle." While that's cool, it would be a predictable choice, so instead, I want to profile the Columbia Center.

Columbia Center has the distinction of being the tallest building west of the Mississippi River-- in terms of number of floors (76). The actual tallest building, as noted in an earlier post, is the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles which, while only 72 stories high, is built atop Bunker Hill in dowtown LA and therefore edges out Columbia Center in terms of actual height. (It would have been the tallest building had the FAA not forced the developer to shorten it due to concerns about flight paths into SeaTac-- the developer shaved 6" of height from each floor!)

The black glass building looks almost to be three buildings in one as its design incorporates three sweeping arches to form a single structure.

Perhaps the most interesting piece of trivia, Emporis reports that the Columbia Club on the building's 76th floor was voted to be the "Best Bathroom in the USA" due to its panoramic views of the Cascade Mountains!

Here are some links:

Columbia Center [Emporis]

Columbia Center [Wikipedia]

Columbia Center [Webshots]

Cha-Ching! Denver, CO Rings Up One Cool Tower!

Nicknamed the "cash register" for its unique, curved crown, the Wells Fargo Center in Denver, CO is by far the coolest building in the Mile High City. Rising above I.M. Pei's Mile High Center, the Wells Fargo Center is the most distinctive part of the Denver skyline.

The building is 52 stories tall and was designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson.

Here's a bit of trivia for you: the building was originally desinged to be built at a location in Texas and once built in Denver, heating coils had to be added to the roof to melt snow, otherwise, a veritable avalanche of snow would slide from the curved roof onto the ground 52 stories below!!!

Links:

Wells Fargo Center [Maguire Properties]

Wells Fargo Center [Wikipedia]

Wells Fargo Center [Emporis]

A Classic Capitol- Sacramento, CA

I was in Sacramento recently and had an opportunity to visit the Capitol building and found it just, well, cool. You forget that Sacramento isn't just the capital of California, it is the capital of one of the largest economies on the planet-- California is bigger and more complex than most countries! The Capitol building itself, nobly fulfills all the requirements of a major seat of government.

The building was designed by architects M.F. Butler and Reuben Clark in the Roman Corinthian style. Work began in 1860 and ended in 1874 at the cost of $245 million! ($245 million in 1874 was a LOT of money!)

The Roman Corinthian style is about what you would expect for a Capitol building, but its setting on the massive Capitol lawn gives it a majestic look.

If you're in Sacramento, it is well worth a tour and, if you're lucky, the California State Legislature will be in session when you go and you can even watch history being made in this historic building!

Links:

California State Capitol [Emporis]

California State Capitol [Virtual Tourist]

California State Capitol [Digger's Realm]

A Brief Sidebar...

We interrupt this national building tour to bring you a not-necessarily-breaking news item (in fact it's about three weeks old, but I just heard about it).

The massive building project in Downtown Los Angeles called LA Live which is supposed to fill in the big empay space between the cluster of high rises and the Staples Center sports arena which anchors the southern end of Downtown, was dealt another blow recently when national homebuilder KB Home bailed out of the huge hotel project that was to be the development's centerpiece.

This is the second developer to bail on the project for cost reasons (the 2 million square foot project is estimated-for now-- to come in at a cool $750 million).

The project will soldier on, however, under the management of AEG, and the 50+ story Ritz Carlton/JW Marriott hotel will get built eventually and I'm sure it will be awesome once complete.

If you've never seen downtown LA, it's both weird and cool at the same time. Rising out of the endless low-rise suburban sprawl is a large cluster of really tall, mosty cool office towers. It almost looks like something out of a science fiction movie. The closest thing I can compare it to is Rosslyn, Virginia (only taller), across the Potomac River from Washington, DC.

Thanks to Curbed-LA for letting me trade (delinquently) on their good reporting!

KB Home Leaves; LA Live Soldiers On [Curbed]

KB Home opts out of L.A. Live [Los Angeles Times]

The City of Brotherly Love- Philadelphia, PA

My pick for coolest Philly building is One Liberty Place.

At 61 floors, it is the 16th tallest building in the United States, just nudging out its sister property, Two Liberty Place.

The crown of One Liberty reminds me a lot of both Prudential Plaza (Chicago) and Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta). Like those two properties, One Liberty is especially beautiful at night!

Also, if Wikipedia is right, One Liberty is to blame for the fact that none of Philadelphia's pro sports franchises have been able to win championships lately!:

One Liberty Place was locally famous for being the first building to break the gentlemen's agreement, which was not to exceed the 548 ft (167 m) height of the William Penn statue atop Philadelphia City Hall built in 1901. In breaking this agreement, the so-called "Curse of Billy Penn" was born—a Bambino-like hex that supposedly affects the city's professional sport franchises. Since One Liberty Place was completed, Philadelphia's major sports teams (the Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, and 76ers) have all failed to win league championships.

Links:

One Liberty Place [Official web site]

One Liberty Place [Emporis]

One Liberty Place [Wikipedia]

One Liberty Place [A View On Cities]

Big D!- Dallas, Texas

The JP Morgan Chase Tower isn't just the coolest building in Dallas- it's one of the coolest buildings in the country!

From wiki:

The JPMorgan Chase Tower, located at 2200 Ross Avenue in the City Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas (USA) is a 55-story postmodern skyscraper. Standing at a structural height of 738 feet (225 m), it is the fourth tallest skyscraper in Dallas. (If one were to exclude antennas and spires, it would currently be the third tallest building in Dallas.) It is also the 12th tallest building in Texas. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and was completed in 1987.

This building is known for its unique architecture which includes a curved glass top and a 7-story hole in the center of the building near the top. The base of the keyhole features an observation "Skylobby" (open to the public Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm) accessed via a direct elevator from the lobby. The skylobby includes fountains and decorative plants.

Dallas, for personal reasons, is one of my favorite cities and I've been in the skylobby before-- if you're in town with time to kill, you should go. Heck, make a weekend out of it... stay at the Mansion on Turtle Creek or the Four Seasons Las Colinas (the Mansion is simply one of the finest hotels in the country but, according to Forbes, the ubiquitous Fred Wehba-- the new owner of Las Colinas-- is pumping $150 million into a full-scale renovation (golf course included!).

Here are some links to the JP Morgan Chase Tower:

JP Morgan Chase Tower [Official Site]

JP Morgan Chase Tower [Wikipedia]

JP Morgan Chase Tower [Emporis]

JP Morgan Chase Tower [Tower Images]

Bean-town!

Ok, this is departure, perhaps, form my other selections, but I have to go with my heart on this one, and my heart tells me that my favorite "buildling" in Boston is none other than venerable old Fenway Park!!!

Fenway is an insitution and unlike the other buildings featured on this blog, it doesn't make the list for aesthetics, design, construction or any other architectural merit-- it's here for tradition and character!

The oldest baseball stadium in the Majors, Fenway was built in 1912 and I'm not sure they've done anything to it since!

According to Ballparks of Baseball:

Fenway Park still looks much as it did when it opened. The Red Sox (1907-present), then called the Somersets (1901-1902), and later the Pilgrims (1903-1906), began playing at Huntington Avenue Grounds in 1901. Because of possible fires and embarrassment to the team and the City of Boston, Red Sox owner John Taylor decided to build a new ballpark to replace Huntington Avenue Grounds. Construction of a new ballpark located in "The Fens" of Boston began in September 1911.

It took one year for the 27,000 seat ballpark to be constructed. Named Fenway Park and built of steel and concrete, the ballpark had only one level of seating. Wooden bleachers were located in parts of left, right, and centerfield. The facade consisted of red brick. Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912 and original dimensions were 321 ft. (left), 488 ft. (center), and 314 ft. (right). In front of the left field fence until 1934 was Duffy's Cliff, a 10foot embankment.

Fenway links:

Fenway [Ballparks.com]

Fenway [Boston Red Sox]

Fenway [Wikipedia]

Hot-Lanta!

Atlanta, the big city with southern charm, boasts a lot of cool buildings (most of them on, near or named "Peachtree"!) but my favorite is the Bank of America Plaza.

According to Wiki:

The Bank of America Plaza is a skyscraper located in Midtown Atlanta. Standing 1,023 ft. (312 m), it ranks as the 24th tallest building in the world. It is also the tallest building in the United States outside of Chicago and New York City, and the tallest building in any U.S. state capital. It has 55 stories of office space and was completed in 1992, when it was called the NationsBank Building.

Built in only 14 months (one of the fastest construction schedules for any 1,000-foot building), The Plaza's imposing presence is heightened by the dark color of its exterior. It soars into the sky with vertical lines that reinforce its height while also creating an abundance of revenue-generating corner offices. Located over 3.7 acres (1.5 ha) on Peachtree Street, the tower faces its border streets at a 45-degree angle to maximize the views to the north and south.

There is a 90 ft (27 m) obelisk-like spire at the top of the building echoing the shape of the building as a whole. Most of the spire is covered in 23 karat (96%) gold leaf. The open-lattice steel pyramid underneath the obelisk glows orange at night due to lighting. At its most basic, this is a modern interpretation of the Art Deco theme seen in the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. The inhabited part of the building actually ends abruptly with a flat roof. On top of this is built a pyramid of girders, which are gilded and blaze at night.

Also, this is another Fred Wehba building. C. Frederick Wehba bought it in 2006 for $436 million!

Some links:

Bank of America Plaza [wikipedia]

Bank of America Plaza [Emporis]

Bank of America Plaza [Official Site]

San Francisco.

This one is the biggest no-brainer in the history of the world: the Transamerica Pyramid. While San Francisco boasts some of the greatest architecture in America, the Transamerica building has officially achieved "icon" status.

Some highlights, courtesy of Emporis:

-The largest floor is the 5th, with 21,025 ft², while the 48th floor
is the smallest, with only 2,025 ft².

-Transamerica wanted a taller building (1,150 feet/350.5m) but the city
planning commission would not approve it because it interfered with precious
views of San Francisco Bay from Nob Hill.

-Only two elevators reach the top floor.

-The "spire" is the upper 212 feet (64.6m), and is covered with vertically
louvered aluminum panels.

-The Pyramid lobby features the work of many artists through a rotating
art exhibition.

-Components of the base include approximately 16,000 cubic yards of
concrete, encasing more than 300 miles of steel reinforcement rods.

-With 3,678 windows it takes a month to wash them.

-The "wings" which start at the 29th floor are necessary near the top of
the pyramid to support elevators on the east side and a stairwell and smoke
tower on the west side.

-During the 7.1-magnitude Bay Area earthquake in 1989, the top story swayed
nearly a foot from side to side.

-The foundation consists of a steel and concrete block that sits 52
feet underground and is designed to move during earthquakes.

-This is the tallest building in San Francisco, and the 4th tallest
building on the west coast of the United States.

The building is evocative of San Francisco and has become one of the many symbols of the city. Designed by architect William Pereira, it faced considerable opposition during its planning and construction, and was sometimes referred to by detractors as "Pereira's Prick".

In 1999, Transamerica was acquired by Dutch insurance company AEGON. When most of Transamerica was later sold to GE Capital, AEGON retained the building as an investment.

Links:

Transamerica Pyramid [Wikipedia]

The Pyramid Center [www.tapyramid.com]

About the Pyramid [Transamerica]

Transamerica Pyramid [Emporis]

Vegas Baby! Vegas!

So much to choose from, but I love the Wynn Resort. It took me a while to warm up to the Wynn because I had a soft spot for the old Desert Inn which was demolished to make way for the hotel, but this property is spectacular.

I guess when you have as much money as Steve Wynn, you might as well name the place after yourself, but he has every right to be proud of it. Its beautiful tinted facde gives it an otherworldly feel and also serves to reflect the punishing desert sunlight, keeping the place reasonably cool during the hot summer months.

The casino is great, the restaurants are over the top and, my buddy Pete will testify that the "Eurpean sunbathing" pool (complete with bar and outdoor blackjack tables!) is not to be missed.

According to Wiki:

Wynn Las Vegas is one of the tallest buildings in Las Vegas, towering 60
stories over the Strip. It is located at Las Vegas Boulevard
South and Sands Avenue, diagonally from the Fashion Show
Mall.

The 2,716 rooms range in size from 620 square feet (58 m²) to the
villas at 7,000 square feet (650 m²) with a 111,000 ft² (10,200 m²) casino, a
convention center with 223,000 ft² (20,700 m²) of space, 76,000 square feet
(7,000 m²) of retail space.

The Wynn is a must hit your next time in Sin City!

Some links on the Wynn:

Wynn Resort [official Web site]

Wynn Resort [destinatioon 360]

Wynn Resort [Wikipedia]

A Capital City- Washington, DC!

Washington, DC might have more beautiful architecture than any other city in the country, but for our purposes, I'm going to exclude the many beautiful federal buildings and monumentes (too many to choose from!!!) and focus on non-governmental buildings.

My favorite has to be the Watergate. Some people call the building "ugly" and tell me I'm nuts, but I think it's terrific. The Watergate sits majestically on a bend in the Potomac River, adjacent to the Kennedy Center and just a stone's throw from the hip DC neighborhood, Georgetown. Its graceful lines seem to flow with the river, giving it a peaceful, stately look.

You all know the story of the Watergate break-in and scandal, but did you know that the Watergate was the site of brewery once? The Heurich brewery. True story. And Monica Lewinsky lived there, too, as does Secretary of State Rice, now.

Watergate is another jewel in the crown of LA real estate investor C. Frederick Wehba (Fred Wehba), who according to Wiki, bought the building in 2005 for $86 million:

The Watergate Hotel is located at 2650 Virginia Avenue NW. It has 250 guest
rooms and 146 suites. In 2004, the hotel was purchased by a company planning to turn it into luxury co-ops.

The two Watergate Office Buildings are at 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW and 2600 Virginia Avenue NW. In 1972, the Democratic National Committee had its headquarters on the sixth floor of the 11-story 2600 Virginia Avenue building. On May 28, 1972, a team of burglars working for Nixon's re-election campaign put wiretaps and took photos in and near the DNC chairman's office.

The wiretaps were monitored from Room 723 of the Howard Johnson's Motor
Lodge hotel across the street at 2601 Virginia Avenue NW. (The hotel is now
owned by the George Washington University, although no longer used as a undergraduate dormitory.) During a second burglary on June 17, 1972, to replace a
malfunctioning "bug" and collect more information, five burglars were arrested
and the Watergate scandal began to unfold.

The Watergate Office Building was sold in 2005 by Trizec Properties to
Bentley Forbes, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm run by Fred
Wehba, for $86.5 million.

The three Watergate Apartment buildings total some 600 residential
units. Past occupants have included Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Bob and Elizabeth Dole, Monica Lewinsky, Betty Currie, and Paul O'Neill. Current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice now lives in the Watergate.

There is a small (63,000 sq. ft. / 5900 m²) retail center which offers a Safeway supermarket in the basement level and several upscale shops and restaurants at street level.

Some links on Watergate:

Watergate [Wikipedia]

Watergate [Gridskipper]

Tinsletown! Los Angeles, California!

I can't not mention the US Bank Tower in Downtown Los Angeles only because it is the tallest building west of the Mississippi, so here's the quick and dirty and this beautiful building:

When completed, became the tallest building on the Pacific coast, surpassing Columbia Center in Seattle. It is the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The building was designed to withstand an earthquake of 8.3 on the Richter Scale (that's important in California!). The highest helipad in the world is on the roof. From the 53rd floor up, horizontal forces caused by wind or earthquakes are dampened by two struts, which are each one floor high.

So there you have it!

But if you want my most favorite building in Los Angeles, it is the historic Bradbury Building, also in Downtown LA.

According to LA Conservancy:

The Bradbury Building is the oldest commercial building remaining in the central city and one of Los Angeles' unique treasures. Behind its modest, mildly Romanesque exterior lies a magical light-filled Victorian court that rises almost 50 feet with open cage elevators, marble stairs and ornate iron railings.

The history of the Bradbury Building's creation is as dramatic as its interior architecture. Lewis Bradbury, a mining and real estate millionaire, commissioned well-known local architect Sumner Hunt to create a spectacular office building. Although not conclusively proven, local legend has it that Bradbury, disappointed with Hunt's plan, turned to a young draftsman in Hunt's firm, George Wyman, to design the building. Wyman, who was not trained as architect, created a design that was influenced by Edward Bellamy's 1887 utopian novel Looking Backward. Wyman later went on to become a trained architect, but never achieved any further distinction.

The building was re-habbed in 1990 by iconic LA developer Ira Yellin (deceased), whose former business partners still keep their offices in the building. Kind of cool.

Oh yeah, the best part of the building? The old-time, caged elevator operated by a full-time attendant!

Some links:

US Bank Tower [Emporis]

Bradbury Building [LA Conservancy]

Bradbury Building [Wikipedia]

Bradbury Building [Emporis]

Chicago! Chicago! (That Toddlin Town!)

I'm going outside the mainstream here, and am NOT picking John Hancock or Sears Tower for my favorite Windy City building.

Nope, I'm going with Prudential Plaza!

"Pru Plaza" as the locals call it, consists of two buildings-- one old, one new, and the contrast is striking. To me, Pru Plaza suggests evolution and continuity... the old giving way to the new, in a beutiful way.

According to the buildings' web site:

Prudential Plaza consists of two Class A high-rise office towers, totaling approximately 2.2 million square feet, which are located in the East Loop of Chicago, Illinois. The two office towers share a common lobby and mezzanine level, with matching internal architectural features. The buildings are situated on a beautifully landscaped 3.3 acres and also have a five-level underground parking garage.

Prudential Plaza occupies a full city block and is connected to an underground network of pedestrian walkways which provide direct access to hotels, retail services, City Hall, the Chicago Transit Authority main subway and elevated lines and the Metra Randolph Street Station.

Our friends at Wikipedia have not one, but two separate entries (one for each building) for Pru Plaza. They both report that the complex was sold in 2006 for a whopping $460 million to Los Angeles Real Esate Investor Fred Wehba who runs the company Bentley Forbes. "C. Frederick Wehba" as he is properly known (sounds kind of like "C. Montgomery Burns" doesn't it?), has an impressive portfolio of properties all over the country and if you like buildings, like me, his name is one you'll want to get to know!

Some Pru Plaza links:

Prudential Plaza [official web site]

One Prudential Plaza [Wikipedia]

Two Prudential Plaza [Wikipedia]

Prudential Plaza [Emporis]

Start Spreading the News..... New York! New York!

For me, the epitome of New York is Rockefeller Center. Maybe I'm still nostalgic from Christmas, but there is no better experience that visiting the Rock during the holidays. The skating rink is magical, it's across the street from the storied St. Patrick's Cathedral and it has "the tree."

The Rock is also cool in warmer months when ice rink is closed (but the bar is still open!).

According to wikipedia:

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st Streets in New York. It is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan,
spanning between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. It is the largest privately held complex of its kind in the world, and an international symbol of commerce and capitalism. Rockefeller Center is a combination of two building complexes: the older Art Deco office buildings from the 1930s, and a set of four International-style towers built along the Avenue of the Americas during the 1960s and 1970s. (The Time-Life Building and the News Corporation/Fox News Channel
headquarters are part of the "newer" Rockefeller Center buildings.)

Rockefeller Center was named after John D. Rockefeller Jr. ("Junior"), who leased the space from Columbia University in 1928 and developed it between 1929 and 1940. Rockefeller initially planned to build an opera house for the Metropolitan
Opera Company on the site, but changed his mind after the stock market crash of
1929, and withdrawal of the Metropolitan from the project. Construction of
buildings in the Art Deco style began in 1931. Principal architect for the complex was Raymond Hood, working with a team that included a young Wallace Harrison.

It was the PR pioneer Ivy Lee, the prominent adviser to the family, who first suggested the name "Rockefeller Center" for the complex, in 1931. Junior initially didn't want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants.[1]

Rockefeller Center links:

Rockefeller Center [Wikipedia]

Rockefeller Center [NYC Tourist.com]
Rockefeller Center [The City Review]

Rockefellercenter.com

Rockefeller Center [The Insider.com]

Welcome to the Signature Properties Blog!

I love buildings... all kinds of them. In this blog I am going to profile some of my favorite buildings around the country.

Initially, I'll post about buildings in the largest US cities and, as I travel, look for "on-the-scene" posts (thank goodness for cell phone cameras) from my travels as I encounter more cool buildings!!!

If you like buildings, please share your thoughts in the comment section as we go!!!

Safe travels,

Sky S.