Capella Tower (also 225 South Sixth) is an office

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, United States. The building opened in 1992 as First Bank Place, replacing One Financial Plaza as the headquarters for

First Bank System First Bank System was a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based regional bank holding company that operated from 1864 to 1997. What was once First Bank forms the core of today's U.S. Bancorp; First Bank merged with the old U.S. Bancorp in 1997 and took the ...

. In 1997, First Bank System acquired

US Bancorp U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution ...

and changed the name of the building to US Bancorp Place. The headquarters of

moved into the US Bancorp Center in 2000, whereupon the tower changed to 225 South 6th Street. In March 2009, the building took its present name. The ranking of the building as the tallest in Minneapolis is in dispute. The

IDS Center The IDS Center is an office skyscraper located at 80 South 8th Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Completed in 1972, it is the tallest building in Minneapolis, and the tallest building in the state at a height of . It originally stood , thou ...

is usually said to be taller by one foot, even by the owners of Capella Tower. It was initially said to be built one foot shorter out of respect for the IDS Center; however, in 2005, it was revealed that contractors had surreptitiously added of height to Capella, therefore making it taller than the main roof of IDS Center. In February 2005, the IDS counted a window washing garage built on its roof in 1979 as part of its actual height, making it taller than Capella Tower. This ambiguity between official measurements and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

statements might be due in some part to the "halo" that extends out from the roof, which is apparently included in the building's official height (though this is unclear).Nick Coleman
Capella Tower sports a cap, but it can’t topple the IDS
''

Minneapolis Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'', March 24, 2008. The IDS is taller on two measures. The IDS's communications spires add a significant amount of height making it , and it remains the tallest building in Minneapolis if measured by number of stories (57 vs. 56; actually tied for first with neighbor

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: *Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California *Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California * Wells Fargo Cen ...

). Capella Tower is connected to the

Minneapolis Skyway System The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connect various buildings in 80 full city blocks over of Downtown Minneapolis, enabling people to walk in climate-controlled comfort year-ro ...

and has .Burl Gilyard
Capella inks major expansion in downtown Minneapolis
, ''Finance and Commerce'', March 20, 2008. of office space. Imports - 1 of 1

Name origin

In March 2008,

Capella Education Co. Strategic Education, Inc. (SEI), is an education services holding company and is formerly known as Strayer Education, Inc. The company owns For-profit college, for-profit, Online college, online Capella University and Strayer University, as well ...

, longtime occupant of the building and owner of the for-profit online

Capella University Capella University is a private for-profit, online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school is owned by the publicly traded Strategic Education, Inc. and delivers most of its education online. Capella has 52 degree pr ...

, signed a lease that changed the name of the tower to Capella Tower. The new lease expands Capella's square footage in the building from to about , making it the largest tenant in the building. The expanded facility houses all of the company's 1,150 downtown Minneapolis employees; as the online school does not have classrooms, the space houses administrative staff and faculty. The name change took place in March 2009.Sam Black
Capella lease to rename 225 South Sixth
''Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal'', March 20, 2008.

Design

The office building, designed by Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners, is laid out on an L-shaped site with the 58-story tower connected to the 20-story

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

Building by an atrium. The building combines six-story cubes and various round towers which echo the different styles of buildings in downtown Minneapolis. The illuminated semicircle located atop the tower is not only decorative but also houses an antenna farm and communications network. This feature has given the building the nickname the "Halo Building".

Tenants

Baker Tilly Baker Tilly International is an accountancy and business advisory network. It is currently the 10th largest accounting network in the world by revenue with 39,000 people in 706 offices across 148 territories with combined global revenues of $4. ...

Houlihan Lokey Houlihan Lokey, Inc., is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company. Houlihan Lokey was founded in 1972 and is headquartered at Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California. The firm adv ...

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in City of New York, New York City and Delaware General Corporation Law, inco ...

References

External links

*
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
{{Minneapolis skyscrapers Office buildings completed in 1992 Skyscraper office buildings in Minneapolis James Ingo Freed buildings

Name origin

Design

Tenants

See also

References

External links