| Capella Tower | |
|---|---|
 Capella Tower seen from the ground | |
 | |
| Former names |
|
| Alternative names | 225 South Sixth |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Location | 225 6th Street S. Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°58′35″N 93°16′07″W / 44.9763°N 93.2686°W |
| Construction started | 1989 |
| Completed | 1992 |
| Management | Shorenstein Realty Services |
| Height | |
| Roof | 775 ft (236 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 56 (53 occupied) |
| Floor area | 1,499,994 sq ft (139,354.0 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | James Ingo Freed Pei Cobb Freed & Partners |
| Developer | Joint Venture of IBM Corporation and The OPUS Corporation |
| Structural engineer | CBM Engineers Inc. Cosentini Associates |
| Website | |
| capellatowerat225 | |
Capella Tower (also 225 South Sixth) is an office skyscraper in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The building opened in 1992 as First Bank Place, replacing One Financial Plaza as the headquarters for First Bank System.[1] In 1997, First Bank System acquired US Bancorp and changed the name of the building to US Bancorp Place. The headquarters of US Bancorp 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 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 14 inches (36 centimeters) of height to Capella, therefore making it taller than the main roof of IDS Center. In February 2005, the IDS counted a 16-foot-tall (5-meter) window washing garage built on its roof in 1979 as part of its actual height, making it 14 ft (4.3 m) taller than Capella Tower. 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).[2]
The IDS is taller on two measures. The IDS's communications spires add a significant amount of height making it 910 ft (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).[2]
Capella Tower is connected to the Minneapolis Skyway System and has 1.4 million square feet (130,000 m2).[3] of office space.
- ^ "Minneapolis / Skyscraper celebration set". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. October 17, 1992. p. 02B.
First Bank Place officially opens with a grand celebration tonight. The 53-story skyscraper complex on 3rd Av. between 6th and 7th Sts., designed by architect James Freed of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners of New York, has been part of the downtown Minneapolis skyline for two years but the interior was just finished this month. The taller of its towers, on 6th St., has been occupied by First Bank System.
- ^ a b Nick Coleman, Capella Tower sports a cap, but it can’t topple the IDS, Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 24, 2008.
- ^ Burl Gilyard, Capella inks major expansion in downtown Minneapolis Archived March 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Finance and Commerce, March 20, 2008.