PNC Center (formerly National City Center) is a

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 ...

located in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Cleveland, Ohio at the northwest corner of Euclid Avenue and East 9th Street. The building has 35 stories and rises to a height of , and was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Construction on the building was finished in 1980. It served as the headquarters for the now defunct

National City Corporation National City Corporation was a regional bank holding company based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, founded in 1845; it was once one of the ten largest banks in America in terms of deposits, mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Subsidiary Nation ...

, and is now the Cleveland-area offices for

PNC Financial Services The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the D ...

History

In 1975, National City Bank had many of its office functions scattered in Downtown Cleveland. National City almost had moved from Downtown Cleveland to a suburban location but opted to remain in Downtown Cleveland. In 1977, National City announced plans for a new corporate headquarters in Downtown Cleveland. The cost was set at $50 million.

Tax abatement A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax relief can be provided in the ...

, then a new form of financing, was used in its construction. Tax Abatement started in New York City under then Mayor

Abraham Beame Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy. ...

to spur growth in New York City after its default in 1975. Tax Abatement is used to cut property taxes to develop a property. In 1976, then Cleveland Mayor

Ralph Perk Ralph Joseph Perk (January 19, 1914 – April 21, 1999) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 52nd mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Early life Born to an ethnic Czech American family in Cleveland, Perk dropped out of ...

brought NYC's idea to Cleveland. In 1977, National City Bank became the first Cleveland company and project to use tax abatement. The site of National City was a complex one. The site had the old

Bond Clothing Store Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

complex (1947–49) and before that was the Hickox Building (1874–1947). There was an adult movie house that showed X-rated movies named the Roxy. These buildings were demolished in 1978 and construction began for the tower. The National City Bank Tower rises from a seven-foot pad of concrete. The tower itself was not built with steel, instead it became Cleveland's tallest reinforced concrete structure. A floor was poured and jacked up 1 floor a week. The skin of the National City Bank Tower is a White Travertine Marble. During the day, National City Bank is whitish in color. At night, National City is bathed in light. During October, it is bathed in pink light for National Breast Cancer month which National City Bank sponsors research in. When the Tower opened in 1980, National City occupied the tower as its own. Other tenants include

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

, and several law firms, including

Baker Hostetler BakerHostetler is an American law firm founded in 1916. One of the firm's founders, Newton D. Baker, was U.S. Secretary of War during World War I, and former Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. History , the firm was ranked the 73rd-largest law firm in ...

. A kinetic sculpture by George Rickey named ''Triple L Excentric Gyratory III'' sits outside the building. In August 2009,

replaced the National City sign atop of the building with its own, following the acquisition of National City by PNC in late 2008.

References

External links

ClevelandSkyscrapers.com
{{PNC Financial Services Group Skyscraper office buildings in Cleveland Office buildings completed in 1980 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill buildings

History

See also

Further reading

References

External links