Key Tower 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 ...

Public Square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

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 Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. Designed by architect

César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine-American architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Two of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur a ...

, it is the

tallest building This list of tallest buildings includes skyscrapers with continuously occupiable floors and a height of at least . Nonbuilding structure, Non-building structures, such as towers, are not included in this list (for these, see ''List of tallest ...

in the state of Ohio, the 39th-tallest in the United States, and the 165th-tallest in the world. The building reaches 57 stories or to the top of its spire, and it is visible from up to away. The tower contains about 1.5 million square feet (139,355 m²) of office space. Key Tower's anchor tenant is

KeyCorp KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States. Key's customer base spans retail, small ...

, a major regional financial services firm. In 2014 the law firm of

BakerHostetler 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 ...

announced that it would move its headquarters to the building, taking up several floors being vacated by KeyCorp. The international law firm

Squire Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with 42 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C. based Patton Boggs. It is one of the 30 largest law firms in the ...

is headquartered here and a major tenant. It is also headquarters to Dan T. Moore Companies, located on the 27th floor. Key Tower is connected to the Marriott at Key Center, built in conjunction with the tower, and the older Society for Savings Building. It is the tallest building between

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It is also the tallest building in the

Midwest United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

outside of Chicago. In October 2008, Wells Real Estate Funds purchased Key Center, including Key Tower, Marriott at Key Center, Society for Savings Building, and the underground Memorial Plaza Garage. Key Tower was subsequently acquired by The Millennia Companies in 2017. The purchase price was $267.5 million.

History

It was originally built as the Society Center and was the headquarters for Cleveland-based Society Corporation. Society had recently acquired Cleveland Trust and canceled Cleveland Trust's plans for an even taller building on Public Square. Its opening ended the

Terminal Tower Terminal Tower is a 52-story, , landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, it was the second-tallest building in the world when it was comple ...

's 60-year reign as the tallest building in Ohio. It was renamed Key Tower after Society merged with KeyCorp and took the KeyCorp name. Indeed, it was decided to make Cleveland the headquarters for the new KeyCorp because it was felt the then-Society Center was more commensurate with the merged bank's status as a major bank. Pelli originally intended its design for the

Norwest Center The Wells Fargo Center (90 South 7th St), formerly known as Norwest Center, is the third-tallest building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after the IDS Center and the Capella Tower. Completed in 1988, it is 774 feet (235.6 m) tall. For many ...

Minneapolis 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 ...

, but a late change to the site led to Pelli designing a new tower for it. Key Tower was developed by the Richard E. Jacobs Group. When Society Center was completed in 1991 by

Turner Construction Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...

, it became the tallest building between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The

Comcast Center Comcast Center, also known as the Comcast Tower, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia. The 58-story, tower is the second-tallest building in Philadelphia and in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania (after the Comcast Technology Center), a ...

assumed this distinction in 2007. The Chamber of Commerce Building stood on the tower's site from 1898 to 1955. ''F-111'',

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

's large pop art painting, hung in the tower's lobby until building owner Richard Jacobs sold it to the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in 1996. He replaced it in 1998 with ''Songs for Sale'', a mural by artist

David Salle David Salle (born September 28, 1952; last name pronounced "Sally") is a Pictures Generation American painter, printmaker, photographer, and stage designer. Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and lives and works in East Hampton, New York. He earn ...

. In October 2005, Key Bank installed four long illuminated logos at the base of the tower's crowning pyramid. Each sign weighs . A smaller-scale building was proposed by Pelli to be built in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, during the late 1980s, but the plan was ultimately canceled.

References

External links

Key Tower
on

CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...

Skyscraper Center
Images and architectural information
{{Tallest Buildings by U.S. state, state=autocollapse César Pelli buildings Skyscraper office buildings in Cleveland 1991 establishments in Ohio Office buildings completed in 1991 Downtown Cleveland

History

See also

References

External links