225 South Sixth
225 South Sixth  | 225 South Sixth seen from the ground |
| | Begun: | 1989 |
| Opened: | 1992 |
| Height: | 775 (236 meters) |
| 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 |
225 South Sixth is a
skyscraper in
Minneapolis, Minnesota,
USA. It is currently the second tallest building in Minneapolis after the
IDS Center. 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 ranking of the building as the tallest in Minneapolis is somewhat in dispute. The IDS 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 16-foot tall washroom garage on it is actual height making it 15 feet 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).
The IDS is definitely taller on two measures. The IDS's communications spires add a significant amount of height, 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).
The office building 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. On top of the whole structure is a lighted crown which houses antennas and equipment for communications systems. Due in part to the lack of a concise name, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as the Stanley Cup Tower, because of the obvious physical resemblance of the top sections to the
Stanley Cup trophy.
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World's tallest structures contains other discussions about height disputes
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225 South Sixth*
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners*
Skyscraperpage.com