PacBell Building
| 140 New Montgomery | |
|---|---|
The northeast corner
|
|
 
Location within San Francisco
|
|
| Alternative names | Pacific Telephone Building PacBell Building |
| Record height | |
| Preceded by | 225 Bush Street |
| Surpassed by | Russ Building |
| General information | |
| Type | Commercial offices |
| Location | 140 New Montgomery San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′13″N 122°24′00″W / 37.787°N 122.4°WCoordinates: 37°47′13″N 122°24′00″W / 37.787°N 122.4°W |
| Construction started | 1924 |
| Completed | 1925 |
| Owner | Stockbridge Real Estate |
| Height | |
| Antenna spire | 140.2 m (460 ft) |
| Roof | 132.6 m (435 ft) |
| Top floor | 125.9 m (413 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 26 |
| Lifts/elevators | 9 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
Miller and Pflueger Perkins + Will |
| Developer | Wilson Meany Sullivan |
| References | |
140 New Montgomery Street, also known as The Pacific Telephone Building, and, after 1984, as The Pacific Bell Building or The PacBell Building, in San Francisco's South of Market district, is an Art Deco office tower located close to the St. Regis Museum Tower and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The 26-floor building was designed to consolidate numerous smaller buildings and outdated offices into a modern headquarters for The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. When opened in 1925, The Pacific Telephone Building was San Francisco's first significant skyscraper development, and was the tallest building in San Francisco until the Russ Building matched its height in 1927. The building was the first high-rise south of Market Street, and along with the Russ Building, remained the city's tallest until it was overtaken by 650 California Street in 1964. AT&T sold the building in 2007, and as of 2013, Internet company Yelp is the main tenant.
At the time of its construction, it housed The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., a member of the Bell System. The building once had a bell motif in many places on its façade, most notably surrounding the arch over the main entrance doors on New Montgomery Street. After the breakup of the Bell System (AT&T) in 1984 and the formation the regional so-called Baby Bell companies, Pacific Telephone changed its name to "Pacific Bell.
Statues of eight eagles (each 13 feet in height) perch atop the tower's crown. The building has an L-shaped floor plan, and the architecture decoratively incorporates spotlights to show the exterior's terra cotta ornamentation day and night.
In 1929, Winston Churchill visited the building and made one of the first transatlantic telephone calls.
...
Wikipedia