- Comerica Bank Tower
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Comerica Bank Tower 
Alternative names Bank One Center
Chase Center
Momentum PlaceGeneral information Type Commercial offices Location 1717 Main Street
Dallas, TexasCoordinates 32°46′54″N 96°47′48″W / 32.78157°N 96.7966°WCoordinates: 32°46′54″N 96°47′48″W / 32.78157°N 96.7966°W Construction started February 1985 Completed 1987 Height Roof 239.88 m (787.0 ft) Technical details Floor count 60 Floor area 142,200 m2 (1,531,000 sq ft) Design and construction Owner 1717 Dallas Partners LLC Main contractor The Beck Group
HCB ContractorsArchitect Johnson/Burgee Architects
HKS, Inc.References [1][2][3][4] Comerica Bank Tower (formerly Momentum Place, Bank One Center and Chase Center) is a 60-story postmodern skyscraper located at 1717 Main Street in the Main Street District in downtown Dallas, Texas .[4] Standing at a structural height of 787 feet (240 m), it is the third tallest skyscraper in the city of Dallas. (If the antennas and spires of Renaissance Tower were excluded, Comerica Bank Tower would be the second tallest.) It is also the sixth tallest building in Texas and the 49th tallest building in the United States. The building was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee and was completed in 1987. The structure has 1,500,000 square feet (100,000 m2) of office space.
Contents
History
Originally known as Momentum Place, the tower was built as the new headquarters of MCorp Bank. The site, which included the Woolf Brothers and Volk Brothers department stores, was one of the busiest blocks in downtown Dallas. Adjacent blocks included the Neiman Marcus Building, Wilson Building, Titche-Goettinger Building and Mercantile National Bank Building. The entire block from Ervay to St. Paul was leveled to make way for the new tower. The original design as proposed by Johnson called for several office buildings, a hotel and a large shopping mall designed in an ornate classical style. MCorp Bank instead desired a more restrained office tower without any retail; the design for the banking hall was also scaled down.[5]
Construction began in 1985 and the tower opened in 1987, with MCorp initially leasing 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) of space after moving from the Mercantile National Bank Building. At time of completion it was the most legally-contested building on the Dallas skyline due to the economic downturn of the late 1980s and the savings and loan scandal. MCorp Bank collapsed shortly after the building's opening and the bank was dissolved by Bank One. Developers and financial backers sued over ownership of the tower. Other parties defaulted on loans, and the building went into foreclosure in 1991 and again in 1995, the two largest in city history.[6] Without a lead tenant, the tower was remarketed into fully leasable class AA office space. Due to the economic downturn, this was the last high-rise to be completed in downtown in the 1980s.[7]
In 1997 Crescent Real Estate Equities, in partnership with the financer Trizec Properties, bought the Bank One Center from Cigna and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas for $238 million.[8]
On December 14, 2006, Crescent sold the structure for US$216 million to Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Real Estate Developers.[9]
On August 13, 2007, Comerica Bank announced that it would move its corporate headquarters to the building. The decision to move the company's headquarters from Detroit, Michigan was made on March 6, 2007.[10]
Design
- The tower uses a traditional three-sectioned skyscraper form with upper level setbacks. A modern interpretation of the classic barrel vault is used throughout the structure, giving the building an overall art nouveau style. The setbacks carve a cross shape from the building's top section, but sheets of glass descending like a waterfall from the vaults continue the illusion to street level.[11]
- The first five floors contain a massive banking/stock exchange hall with a vaulted ceiling and skylight.[7]
- The building contains a 3 level underground parking garage and is connected to the Elm Street Garage, giving tenants 1,530 parking spaces.[12]
- Comerica Tower is a main hub in the Dallas Pedestrian Network and features several retail spaces below ground.
- The east side of the building features a small plaza with a grid of trees and benches facing the Titche-Goettinger Building.
- The building has been criticized heavily for its poor urban environment at street level. The lack of retail, block-long walls of polished granite and dark glass cause the tower to seem very formidable. The west side entrance plaza, located at one of the busiest corners in downtown Dallas, isolates the building from the street instead of acting like a true public space. At the time of opening, MCorp stated that the stolid exterior was intended. "We wanted a banking building, not an office building,' says MCorp chairman Gene Bishop. "We didn't want the block to be crowded. And we prevailed.'[13] In 2009 a small restaurant extension was constructed along Main Street in the east plaza, hoping to mitigate some of these problems.
See also
- List of tallest buildings in Dallas
- List of tallest buildings in Texas
- List of tallest buildings in the United States
References
- ^ Comerica Bank Tower at Emporis
- ^ Comerica Bank Tower at SkyscraperPage
- ^ Comerica Bank Tower at Structurae
- ^ a b "Comerica Announces Site of New Corporate Headquarters in Texas". Comerica Inc.. 2007-08-13. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20071030093619/http://comerica.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=832. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ David Dillon. "PHILIP JOHNSON - The flamboyant architect has transformed skylines from New York to Houston. What's in store for Dallas?." The Dallas Morning News 28 Apr. 1985, HOME FINAL, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: 1C. NewsBank. Web. 4 Jan. 2010.
- ^ http://www.flickr.com/photos/fatguyinalittlecoat/3043650509/in/pool-dallasurbanhistory
- ^ a b http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=118428 Emporis Facts
- ^ Brown, Steve. "Crescent, TrizecHahn buy Bank One Center." The Dallas Morning News. October 24, 1997. Retrieved on March 31, 2010.
- ^ Brown, Steve (2007-12-15). "Bank One Center sold to investors". The Dallas Morning News (Belo Corp.). http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/realestate/stories/121506dnbusbankone.2ef031c.html. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ "Comerica to Relocate Corporate Headquarters to Dallas". Comerica Inc.. 2007-03-06. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20071009191905/http://comerica.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=780. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ^ http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/491.php
- ^ http://www.comericabanktower.com/home/pages/about.asp
- ^ David Dillon. "A BUTTON-DOWN BUILDING - Momentum Place is grand and elegant, but uninviting." The Dallas Morning News 30 Aug. 1987, HOME FINAL, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: 1C. NewsBank. Web. 4 Jan. 2010.
External links
Skyscrapers in Dallas Current Bank of America Plaza · Renaissance Tower · Comerica Bank Tower · Chase Tower · Fountain Place · Trammell Crow Center · 1700 Pacific Avenue · Thanksgiving Tower · Energy Plaza · Elm Place · Gables Republic Tower · Republic Center Tower II · Whitacre Tower · Lincoln Plaza · Tower at Cityplace · Reunion Tower · Sheraton Dallas Hotel · Mercantile National Bank Building · Bryan Tower · Magnolia Hotel · Harwood Center · KPMG Centre · 2100 Ross Avenue · Renaissance Hotel · Patriot Tower · Sheraton Dallas Hotel North Tower · One Main Place · W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residences · 1600 Pacific Tower · Omni Dallas Hotel · The Mondrian · Adolphus Hotel · Davis Building · Kirby Building · Tower Petroleum Building · Corrigan Tower · Praetorian Building · Plaza of the Americas
Under construction See also Categories:- Bank buildings in Texas
- Buildings and structures completed in 1987
- Buildings and structures in Dallas, Texas
- John Burgee buildings
- Office buildings in Dallas, Texas
- Philip Johnson buildings
- Skyscrapers in Dallas, Texas
- Skyscrapers between 200 and 249 meters
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