One Oxford Centre

One Oxford Centre

View of One Oxford Centre from West End Bridge
General information
Type Office
Coordinates 40°26′17″N 79°59′56″W / 40.43806°N 79.99889°W / 40.43806; -79.99889Coordinates: 40°26′17″N 79°59′56″W / 40.43806°N 79.99889°W / 40.43806; -79.99889
Construction started May 31, 1980
Completed April 1983
Cost $140 million [1]
Height
Roof 615 ft (187 m)
Technical details
Floor count 46
Floor area ~1 million [2]
Lifts/elevators 21 ( 3 Hydraulics And 1 Big Geared Service Car With An Operator )
Design and construction
Developer Oxford Development Company
Main contractor DeBartolo Company
Other information
Parking 800 [3]

One Oxford Centre is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of Downtown Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, United States. Although it is mainly identified by its main tower, it is actually a complex of six "buildings", all of matching glass and steel design. The complex is named for Oxford Development, the building owner.

Completed in 1983, One Oxford Centre has 46 floors in its main tower and rises 615 feet (187 m) above Downtown Pittsburgh. Although its address is simply One Oxford Centre, the building is located on the 300 block of Grant Street. The tower has nearly 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2) of office and high-end retail space. Since the towers opening it has been home to a full-service health/business club, The Rivers Club. The complex also contains a multi-level parking garage and some street level retail and office space one block west of Grant Street.

At night, forty-three 1,500-watt spotlights illuminate the Centre with a total of 54,500 watts that create a glowing effect that is said to be greater than any other highrise in the United States. One Oxford Centre was developed by Oxford Development Company and designed by architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum.

The building is designed the way it is, with so many sides, because the developers wanted as many corner offices in the building as possible.

Among the commercial tenants of One Oxford Centre are the law firms of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney and Portnoy & Quinn.[4]

A composite image of the main tower of PPG Place and Oxford Centre is used as the Fiddler's Green luxury high-rise in the movie Land of the Dead. Another interesting fact is that a street (Cherry Way) passes through the tower on its lower levels.

History

The proposed tower was announced and submitted for county approval in October 1978 as the "Grant Land project".[5][6] In April 1983, DeBartolo Company, which constructed the tower, announced plans for "Two Oxford Centre" to the immediate northeast of the main tower and across the street from Pittsburgh City Hall and the Frick Building. Two Oxford Centre was to be noticeably taller than One Oxford, however the plans and development were dependent on securing a majority tenant which never materialized.[7]

In 1999 Steve Kangas died on the 39th floor in the restroom of the offices of Richard Mellon Scaife.

In October 2012 the Pittsburgh Federal Reserve Bank Branch relocated from its 715 Grant Street art deco headquarters to Oxford Center.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HrRRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Rm4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=pittsburgh%20tower&pg=2898%2C5015376
  2. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HrRRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Rm4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=pittsburgh%20tower&pg=2898%2C5015376
  3. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HrRRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Rm4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=pittsburgh%20tower&pg=2898%2C5015376
  4. ↑ Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Pittsburgh Office information
  5. ↑ Snyder, Thomas P. (November 27, 1978), "Grant Land Complex Gets Support", Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA)
  6. ↑ Snyder, Thomas P. (November 27, 1978), "Grant Land Plan Gets More Support", Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA)
  7. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o8xRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m20DAAAAIBAJ&dq=pittsburgh%20tower&pg=2062%2C6661481
  8. ↑ http://triblive.com/business/headlines/3984043-74/building-sweeney-company#axzz2SjrT9grL
Preceded by
Gulf Tower		 Pittsburgh Skyscrapers by Height
615 feet (187 m)
46 floors 		Succeeded by
Fifth Avenue Place
Preceded by
Mellon Center		 Pittsburgh Skyscrapers by Year of Completion
1983 		Succeeded by
PPG Place

External links

Media related to One Oxford Centre at Wikimedia Commons

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