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Luhrs Building
North of the Luhrs Building looking South down Central
General information
Type	Offices
Location	Phoenix, Arizona
Coordinates
Construction started	1923
Completed	1924
Opened	April 15, 1924
Cost	$500,000(estimate)
Height
Roof	208 ft (63 m)
Technical details
Floor count	11
Lifts/elevators	5
Cantstandya/sandbox/sandbox2
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Built	1923–24
Architect	Garfield,J.J., Trost & Trost
Architectural style	Other, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
MPS	Phoenix Commercial MRA (AD)
NRHP reference No.	85003561
Added to NRHP	1985

The Luhrs Building, completed in 1924, is a historic high-rise building in Phoenix, Arizona. The 136 ft (41 m) tall 10-story building held the title of tallest building in Arizona for almost five years until the opening of the Westward Ho in December 1928. Upon completion, it was said to be the tallest building between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas. The building is located on the corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street and is still in use today.

The buildings main entrance is on Jefferson Street, it opens into a large 56 ft (17 m) by 30 ft (9.1 m) marble tiled lobby. Surrounding the lobby are several store fronts, two lobby stores on the south end, and six street accessible store fronts which line the streets of Central and Jefferson. The ground level of the building occupies the entire lot, above that the building is constructed in a L-shape which was to provide proper air flow and lighting. Underneath the ground level is a basement that extends under the sidewalk. Floors two through seven have served as office space since the building opened, each was equipped with gender specific restrooms. The upper four floors of the building were designed specifically for the needs of The Arizona Club and were later converted into office space when the club relocated to the 25th floor of the First National Bank Building in 1977.

The Luhrs Building should not be confused with the adjacent Luhrs Tower, which was built five years later.

History

The L-shaped Luhrs Building was designed by the El Paso architectural firm of Trost & Trost. It was constructed for a total cost of $553,000 USD by local businessman George Luhrs. The building is faced with brown brick, with elaborate marble ornamentation on the uppermost two floors and a heavy cornice at the top. It has a single-story basement and the structure covers the entire lot which is 87 ft (27 m) by 137.5 ft (41.9 m) and located on the corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street in downtown Phoenix.

The construction project was announced to the public in December 1922. Financing was accomplished through public issued 6 1/2% interest First Mortgage Gold Bonds. Bids were opened on March 5, 1923, for general construction contracts. By the end of the month, on March 23, 1923, Jay J. Garfield of Tucson, Arizona, was awarded the general contract.

Contracts were also granted to several Phoenix-based companies including; L. T. Dale for plumbing and heating, Phoenix Roofing Company, Arizona Cornice Works for metal works, and Southwest Cement and Plaster Products, Inc. for art stone. Site excavation began on March 10, 1923.

In June 1923, Arthur Luhrs toured the east coast examining passenger elevators in high-rise buildings. After he returned, it was announced that five elevators manufactured by Montgomery Elevator company of Moline, Illinois, had been selected for the project. This included three passenger elevators, of which one was a private elevator for Arizona Club, and two service elevators. By November 1923, the buildings steelwork had topped out and brick veneer reached the 10th floor. The elevators were installed by Vinson Brothers company in March of 1924.

The Luhrs Building was completed on April 1, 1924, and was officially opened April 15, 1924.

The Arizona Club

The building's four upper floors housed the facilities of the Arizona Club and included dining rooms, lounges, a library and bedrooms for club members. Each of the floors have individual bathrooms. The eighth and ninth floor contained the sleeping quarters for club members; a total of 50 rooms. All but eight have private or connecting baths. The tenth floor, which was the top floor in the building, was used for the club lounge.

When the Arizona Club moved out of the Luhrs Building in 1971, the upper floors were converted to offices.

the second through seventh story are offices and Standing at ___, the Luhrs Building

Later years

On November 16, 1976, the Luhrs Building and all five other Luhr owned buildings in Phoenix were sold to Patrician Land Corp., Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta.

References

[Category:Skyscrapers in Phoenix, Arizona] [Category:Trost & Trost buildings] [Category:Office buildings in Phoenix, Arizona]