One Central Park East
Encyclopedia
Freeport-McMoRan Center is a highrise located in Downtown Phoenix
, Arizona
. It is located adjacent to Arizona State University's Downtown campus. Upon completion in 2009, the building was the first high-rise office tower to open in Downtown Phoenix
in nearly eight years. It is named for mining company Freeport-McMoRan
whose headquarters are located in the building.
The project's demise forced developers to redesign the project so they could move forward on the most-needed component, the office tower, while still leaving room on the site to develop ASU space and residential housing, should either be needed in the future.
On January 27, 2009, the developers of the tower held a "topping out" ceremony celebrating that construction has reached its highest point.
In May 2010, plans were revealed to fill the first eight usable floors of the tower with a 278-room luxury Westin Hotel. On March 10, 2011 the new hotel was opened to guests. The $40 million dollar hotel was designed and built out in less than a year in order to get it open as soon as possible. Building modification included a two story addition on the west side of the building to accommodate a private hotel entrance, restaurant and a pool on the second floor. The original lobby was reconfigured and the elevators for the hotel were partitioned off to keep the office and hotel uses separate.
free space and 9' floor to ceiling windows of articulated glass. The glass windows are adorned with vertical and horizontal “fins” that limit the amount of sunlight entering the building during the day while still allowing clear views.
Downtown Phoenix
Downtown Phoenix is the central business district of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located near the geographic center of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County and the capital of Arizona, serves as the center of politics,...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. It is located adjacent to Arizona State University's Downtown campus. Upon completion in 2009, the building was the first high-rise office tower to open in Downtown Phoenix
Downtown Phoenix
Downtown Phoenix is the central business district of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located near the geographic center of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County and the capital of Arizona, serves as the center of politics,...
in nearly eight years. It is named for mining company Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., often called simply Freeport, is the world's lowest-cost copper producer and one of the world's largest producers of gold...
whose headquarters are located in the building.
History
The tower was originally designed as a multi-use complex made up of the office tower with high-rise condominiums and academic space for ASU's downtown campus. The plan was modified in 2006 because of money constraints and ASU's tight timetable to open the School of Journalism building by August 2008.The project's demise forced developers to redesign the project so they could move forward on the most-needed component, the office tower, while still leaving room on the site to develop ASU space and residential housing, should either be needed in the future.
On January 27, 2009, the developers of the tower held a "topping out" ceremony celebrating that construction has reached its highest point.
In May 2010, plans were revealed to fill the first eight usable floors of the tower with a 278-room luxury Westin Hotel. On March 10, 2011 the new hotel was opened to guests. The $40 million dollar hotel was designed and built out in less than a year in order to get it open as soon as possible. Building modification included a two story addition on the west side of the building to accommodate a private hotel entrance, restaurant and a pool on the second floor. The original lobby was reconfigured and the elevators for the hotel were partitioned off to keep the office and hotel uses separate.
Building Design
The building has ground floor retail, nine floors of above ground parking, eight floors dedicated to a Westin hotel and the uppermost eight floors with Class A office space, filled by namesake Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Each floor plate offers over 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) of columnColumn
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
free space and 9' floor to ceiling windows of articulated glass. The glass windows are adorned with vertical and horizontal “fins” that limit the amount of sunlight entering the building during the day while still allowing clear views.