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1717 Main
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Office skyscraper in Dallas, Texas
Ally Detroit Center, previously known as Comerica Tower at Detroit Center
February 2025
January 2025
Comerica Bank Tower Comerica Bank Tower logo.png 215 Bank One Center.jpg 250 Bank One CenterChase CenterMomentum Place 1717 Main StreetDallas, Texas 32.78157 -96.7966 region:US-TX inline,title February 1985 1987 Commercial offices 239.88 m on 60 32 Comercia Bank Tower https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/comerica-bank-tower/984 Skyscraper Center CTBUH 2017-07-21 142,200 m2 on Johnson/Burgee Architects HCB Contractors 1717 Dallas Partners LLC https://www.emporis.com/buildings/118428 https://web.archive.org/web/20160306205035/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/118428 usurped March 6, 2016 Emporis building ID 118428 Emporis22520012161 https://comericabanktower.com/
1717 Main (formerly Momentum Place, Bank One Center, Chase Center, and Comerica Bank Tower) is a 60-story postmodern skyscraper in the Main Street District in downtown Dallas, Texas.Comerica Announces Site of New Corporate Headquarters in Texas http://comerica.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=832 Comerica Inc. 2007-08-13 2007-08-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20071030093619/http://comerica.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=832 2007-10-30 dead Standing at a structural height of 787 ft m 0, it is the third tallest skyscraper in the city of Dallas. (If the antennas and spires of Renaissance Tower were excluded, Comerica Bank Tower would be the second tallest.) It is also the sixth tallest building in Texas and the 61st tallest building in the United States.July 2018 The building was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, and was completed in 1987. The structure has 1500000 sqft m2 -5 of office space.
History
Originally known as Momentum Place, the tower was built as the new headquarters of MCorp Bank. The site, which included the Woolf Brothers and Volk Brothers department stores, was one of the busiest blocks in downtown Dallas. Adjacent blocks included the Neiman Marcus Building, Wilson Building, Titche-Goettinger Building and Mercantile National Bank Building. The entire block from Ervay to St. Paul was leveled to make way for the new tower. The original design as proposed by Johnson called for several office buildings, a hotel and a large shopping mall designed in an ornate classical style. MCorp Bank instead desired a more restrained office tower without any retail; the design for the banking hall was also scaled down.David Dillon. "PHILIP JOHNSON - The flamboyant architect has transformed skylines from New York to Houston. What's in store for Dallas?." The Dallas Morning News 28 Apr. 1985, HOME FINAL, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: 1C. NewsBank. Web. 4 Jan. 2010.
Construction began in 1985 and the tower opened in 1987, with MCorp initially leasing 600000 sqft m2 of space after moving from the Mercantile National Bank Building. At time of completion it was the most legally-contested building on the Dallas skyline due to the economic downturn of the late 1980s and the savings and loan scandal. MCorp Bank collapsed shortly after the building's opening and the bank was dissolved by Bank One. Developers and financial backers sued over ownership of the tower. Other parties defaulted on loans, and the building went into foreclosure in 1991 and again in 1995, the two largest in city history.https://www.flickr.com/photos/fatguyinalittlecoat/3043650509/in/pool-dallasurbanhistory February 2022 Without a lead tenant, the tower was remarketed into fully leasable class AA office space. Due to the economic downturn, this was the last high-rise to be completed in downtown in the 1980s.https://archive.today/20130409024603/http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=118428 Emporis.com Emporis Facts
In 1997 Crescent Real Estate Equities, in partnership with the financer Trizec Properties, bought the Bank One Center from Cigna and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas for $238 million.Brown, Steve. "Crescent, TrizecHahn buy Bank One Center." The Dallas Morning News. October 24, 1997. Retrieved on March 31, 2010.
On December 14, 2006, Crescent sold the structure for US$216 million to Los Angeles–based Metropolitan Real Estate Developers.Steve Brown Bank One Center sold to investors http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/realestate/stories/121506dnbusbankone.2ef031c.html The Dallas Morning News Belo Corp. 2007-12-15 2007-08-16 2007-09-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014629/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/realestate/stories/121506dnbusbankone.2ef031c.html dead
On March 6, 2007, Comerica announced its decision to relocate its corporate headquarters to Dallas."Company Press Release - Comerica to Relocate Corporate Headquarters to Dallas" (https://archive.today/20131123065626/http://comerica.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=31806&item=108777 Archive) Comerica Bank. March 6, 2007. Retrieved on November 23, 2013. In August the company announced that it selected 1717 Main Street in Downtown Dallas and that the tower would be renamed Comerica Bank Tower."Company Press Release - Comerica Announces Site of New Corporate Headquarters in Texas" Comerica Bank. August 13, 2007. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. The company executives began moving into 1717 Main Street in November 2007.Hethcock, Bill. "Large ad agency cites area's vibrancy in decision to return." Dallas Business Journal. December 9, 2007. p. 2. Retrieved October 17, 2010. "In August, Comerica Inc. announced it would move into the skyscraper, formerly known as Bank One Center, when the banking and financial firm relocated its headquarters from Detroit. Comerica leased five floors -- 164,000 square feet -- and the building was renamed to reflect its new lead tenant. Comerica executives began moving in last month."
The firm TM Advertising planned to move into the building on January 2, 2008. It was scheduled to take four floors,Hethcock, Bill. "Large ad agency cites area's vibrancy in decision to return." Dallas Business Journal. December 9, 2007. p. 1. Retrieved October 17, 2010. with a total of 130000 sqft sqm of space. 340 employees were scheduled to move there. The space TM moved into was previously occupied by TXU Energy.
In 2024, it was acquired by Slate Asset Management.Butler Anna 2024-05-24 Comerica Bank Tower has a new owner https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2024/05/24/comerica-bank-tower-has-a-new-owner/ 2026-05-12 Dallas News en In 2026, it was valued at $114.5 million, and was 70 percent leased.Swanger By Ben 2026-05-11 Why Downtown Dallas Can't Fill Its "Zombie" Office Towers - D CEO Magazine https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2026/may/empty-office-towers-downtown-dallas/ 2026-05-12 D Magazine en-US
Design
The tower uses a traditional three-sectioned skyscraper form with upper level setbacks. A modern interpretation of the classic barrel vault is used throughout the structure, giving the building an overall art deco style. The setbacks carve a cross shape from the building's top section, but sheets of glass descending like a waterfall from the vaults continue the illusion to street level.http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/491.php Bank One Center (Dallas) : 1717 Main Street, Dallas, Texas :: Glass Steel and Stone 2009-08-12 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20100104030846/http://glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/491.php 2010-01-04
The first five floors contain a massive banking/stock exchange hall with a vaulted ceiling and skylight.
The building contains a 3 level underground parking garage and is connected to the Elm Street Garage, giving tenants 1,530 parking spaces.http://www.comericabanktower.com/home/pages/about.asp Comerica Bank Tower - Building Description 2009-08-12 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20091109023221/http://www.comericabanktower.com/home/Pages/about.asp 2009-11-09
Comerica Tower is a main hub in the Dallas Pedestrian Network and features several retail spaces below ground.
The east side of the building features a small plaza with a grid of trees and benches facing the Titche-Goettinger Building.
The building has been criticized heavily for its poor urban environment at street level. The lack of retail, block-long walls of polished granite and dark glass cause the tower to seem very formidable. The west side entrance plaza, located at one of the busiest corners in downtown Dallas, isolates the building from the street instead of acting like a true public space. At the time of opening, MCorp stated that the stolid exterior was intended. "We wanted a banking building, not an office building,' says MCorp chairman Gene Bishop. "We didn't want the block to be crowded. And we prevailed.'David Dillon. "A BUTTON-DOWN BUILDING - Momentum Place is grand and elegant, but uninviting." The Dallas Morning News 30 Aug. 1987, HOME FINAL, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT: 1C. NewsBank. Web. 4 Jan. 2010. In 2009 a small restaurant extension was constructed along Main Street in the east plaza, hoping to mitigate some of these problems.
See also
List of tallest buildings in Dallas
List of tallest buildings in Texas
List of tallest buildings in the United States
References
2
External links
https://comericabanktower.com
Dallasarchitecture.info Comerica Bank Tower
Category:Bank buildings in Texas
Category:Downtown Dallas
Category:Buildings and structures in Dallas
Category:John Burgee buildings
Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Dallas
Category:Philip Johnson buildings
Category:Office buildings completed in 1987
Category:1987 establishments in Texas
Category:1980s architecture in the United States