Market Tower Explained
Market Tower is a high-rise office building located at the northeast corner of Illinois and Market streets in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. At the time of its completion in 1988, Market Tower was the largest privately financed speculative office project developed in the city. It is the fourth-tallest building in Indianapolis[2] and the fifth-tallest building in Indiana. Market Tower is the second-tallest reinforced concrete building in the state,[2] after the Indiana Michigan Power Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
History
Market Tower was topped-out on April 9, 1988.[3] At the time of the building's dedication on October 18, 1988, it was 60% pre-leased.[4]
In 1991, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources installed a nest box atop Market Tower as part of a statewide species reintroduction program for peregrine falcons.[5] The nest box is located on the southeast corner of the tower's 31st floor.[6] Since the first pair took roost in 1995, peregrine falcons have continuously occupied the site as recently as 2021.[5] [7]
In May 2014, the building's owner, HDG Mansur, was ordered to sell the property after defaulting on loans worth US$60 million. Zeller Realty Group purchased Market Tower for US$52.7 million in October 2014.[8] Over the ensuing years, Zeller completed US$7 million in renovations then sold the building to Square Deal Capital in 2017.[9]
According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, building amenities include a cafe, a conference center, a fitness center, and a restaurant. In 2022, the tower was 85% occupied, with tenants including multinational law firm Dentons and the United States Attorney's office for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.[10]
Design
The building's façade appears much like a grid, clad in red and gray granite and metal mullions framing tinted windows. A series of setbacks gives way to a buttressed, copper roof topped with eight spires.[11] Beginning on the second floor of its eastern façade, the tower's floorplate cantilevers over an alleyway. The building contains a three-level underground parking garage and a three-story atrium fronting W. Market St.[2]
Market Tower's postmodern design borrows architectural elements found in neighboring landmarks.[2] Cornelius Alig, president of Mansur Development Corporation in 1988, noted that the company "made it our priority" that the tower's design complement existing architecture near Monument Circle.[11]
Steve Mannheimer, architecture critic writing for The Indianapolis Star, remarked on the influences:
See also
References
- Web site: Market Tower . Skyscraper Center . CTBUH . August 5, 2022.
- Encyclopedia: Market Tower . Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis . December 2022 . Alig . Cornelius M. . Indianapolis Public Library . January 14, 2023.
- News: . Tower ceremony April 9 . subscription . March 2, 1988 . The Indianapolis News . January 14, 2023 . 41 . Newspapers.com . A 'topping out' ceremony April 9 will mark the completion of the 32nd floor of Market Tower in downtown Indianapolis..
- News: Swiatek . Jeff . Vacancy rate doesn't dampen opening . subscription . October 19, 1988 . The Indianapolis Star . January 15, 2023 . 14 . Newspapers.com . Indianapolis' newest office tower opened with a champaign bottle-busting dedication Tuesday, even as the city's Downtown office vacancy rate jumped to a record high 18.8 percent. (...) 'Market Tower is 60 percent pre-leased,' he said..
- News: . New falcon family settles Downtown . subscription . April 28, 1995 . The Indianapolis News . The Associated Press . January 19, 2023 . 20 . Newspapers.com . The parents of the youngsters originally were released in Kentucky and Wisconsin, but they met in Indianapolis and made their home in a nesting box atop Market Tower, 10 W. Market St., with a commanding view of Monument Circle. Their successful brooding and hatching about a week ago represents the first documented nesting of peregrine falcons in the Hoosier capital. (...) The nesting box on Market Tower was erected in 1991, the year Indiana's reintroduction project began with the release of 15 birds..
- News: Ryckaert . Vic . Nature can be cruel: The life and death of a Downtown falcon . subscription . April 18, 2017 . The Indianapolis Star . January 19, 2023 . A8 . Newspapers.com . The nest box is located on the southeast corner of the Market Tower's 31st floor and overlooks Monument Circle..
- Web site: Hartz . Michael . The sky's the limit for Indiana’s peregrine falcon population . WRTV . July 8, 2021 . January 19, 2023.
- Web site: Olson . Scott . Two downtown office towers changing hands . . September 4, 2014 . January 14, 2023.
- Web site: Olson . Scott . Oklahoma City firm set to buy spiffed-up Market Tower . . September 25, 2017 . January 14, 2023.
- Web site: Largest Downtown Office Complexes . Indianapolis Business Journal . IBJ Media . September 6, 2022 . January 14, 2023.
- News: Mannheimer . Steve . Tower a vision of modified modernism . subscription . October 30, 1988 . The Indianapolis Star . January 14, 2023 . E10 . Newspapers.com . The tower's gridded skin is a muted modernist plaid of red and gray granite and metal mullions, as gentle and genteel as suit cloth. (...) Around 'shoulder' level, the building begins to step back to culminate in a tailored assemblage of historical echoes: A buttressed, copper-clad roof topped by eight, almost anachronistic spires that nonetheless lend the building its final skyward fling. (...) 'We thought it was important to build a building that contributed to the overall Circle area,' he said. 'We made it our priority to design it to include some of the architectural elements of some of the more significant buildings.' (...) The step-backs echo the Circle Tower. The bays pay some homage to the Columbia Club, as does the copper roof, which also harkens to the City Market. The double-height main entrance on Market Street is a reminder of the Guaranty Building. (...) Market Tower is enriched by a set of historical motifs that make it — despite its restrained and hence almost 'international' stylistic rendering — an Indianapolis building much more than other Downtown skyscrapers..
External links
