225 South Sixth

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225 South Sixth
225 South Sixth seen from the ground
Begun: 1989
Opened: 1992
Height: 775 feet (236 m)
Floors: 56 (53 occupied)
ZIP Code: 55402
World Rank: 137th (as of July 2005)
City Rank: 2nd (as of early 2005)
Location: 225 South Sixth Street
Architect: James Ingo Freed
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Developers: Joint Venture of IBM Corporation and
The OPUS Corporation
Structural Engineer: CBM Engineers Inc.

225 South Sixth is a skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. The building opened in 1992 with the First Bank Place being the headquarters for First Bank. In 1997, First Bank acquired U.S. Bancorp and changed the name of the building to U.S. Bancorp Place. The headquarters of U.S. Bancorp moved into the newer (and much smaller) US Bancorp Center in 2000, whereupon the tower changed to its present name. The building is scheduled to be renamed the Capella Tower sometime in early 2009.

The ranking of the building as the tallest in Minneapolis is somewhat in dispute. The IDS Center is usually said to be taller by one foot (specific numbers are never given), even by the owners of 225 South Sixth. It was initially said to be built one foot shorter out of respect for the IDS Center. In February 2005 the IDS counted a 17-foot (5.2 m) tall washroom garage on its actual height making it 14 feet (4.3 m) taller than 225 South Sixth. This ambiguity between official measurements and public relations 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).[1]

The IDS is definitely taller on two measures. The IDS's communications spires add a significant amount of height making it 910 feet (280 m), 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).[1]

The building's total office space is 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m2).[2]

Contents

[edit] Capella Tower

The building as viewed from the Foshay Tower

In March 2008, Capella Education Co., longtime occupant of the building and owner of the for-profit online Capella University, signed a lease that will change the name of the tower to Capella Tower; the name of the project will remain 225 South Sixth. Running through 2015, the new lease expands Capella's square footage in the building from 203,000 square feet (18,900 m2) to about 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2), making it the largest tenant in the building. The expanded facility will house 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 is scheduled to take place in March 2009.[3]

[edit] Design

The office building, designed by Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners,[4] is laid out on an L-shaped site with the 56-story tower connected to the 20-story Park Building by a corner winter garden. The building combines six-story cubes and various round towers which echo the different styles of buildings in downtown Minneapolis. The illuminated semi-circle located atop the tower is not only decorative but also housing an antennae farm and communications network. This feature has given the building the nickname, the "Halo Building".

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Nick Coleman, Capella Tower sports a cap, but it can’t topple the IDS, Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 24, 2008.
  2. ^ Burl Gilyard, Capella inks major expansion in downtown Minneapolis, Finance and Commerce, March 20, 2008.
  3. ^ Sam Black, Capella lease to rename 225 South Sixth, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, March 20, 2008.
  4. ^ http://www.pcf-p.com/a/p/8826/s.html

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 44°58′35″N 93°16′07″W / 44.9763°N 93.2686°W / 44.9763; -93.2686

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