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‹ The template Infobox building is being considered for merging. › PSFS Building (Loews Philadelphia Hotel) PSFSBuilding1985.jpg The PSFS Building in 1985. PSFS Building is located in PhiladelphiaPSFS Building Location within Philadelphia Show map of Philadelphia Show map of Pennsylvania Show map of the US Show all General information Status	Complete Type	Hotel Location	1200 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Coordinates	39°57′5.51″N 75°9′38.21″WCoordinates: 39°57′5.51″N 75°9′38.21″W Opening	1932 Cost	US$8 million (1932) Owner	Loews Hotels Height Antenna spire	794 feet (242 m) Roof	491 feet (150 m) Technical details Floor count	36 Design and construction Architect	William Lescaze George Howe Developer	Philadelphia Saving Fund Society Main contractor	George A. Fuller Company Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. National Historic Landmark Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Pennsylvania state historical marker Architectural style	International style NRHP reference #	76001667[1] Significant dates Added to NRHP	December 8, 1976 Designated NHL	December 8, 1976 Designated PHMC	November 11, 2005[2]

History The PSFS Building, now known as the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A National Historic Landmark, the building was the first International style skyscraper constructed in the United States. It was built for the Philadelphia Saving (later Savings) Fund Society in 1932 and was designed by architects William Lescaze and George Howe. The skyscraper's design was a departure from traditional bank and Philadelphia architecture, lacking features such as domes and ornamentation. Combining Lescaze's experience with European modernism, Howe's Beaux-Arts background and the desire of Society President James M. Wilcox for a forward-thinking, tall building the skyscraper incorporated the main characteristics of International style architecture.

Called the United States' first modern skyscraper, and one of the most important skyscrapers built in the country in the first half of the 20th century, the building featured an innovative and effective design of a T-shaped tower that allowed the maximum amount of natural light and rentable space. The tower sat on a base with a polished marble facade. The first floor of the base contained space for retail, while the second floor featured the banking hall, bank offices and associated facilities. The Philadelphia Saving Fund Society's offices and banking hall featured custom-designed furniture, including custom Cartier clocks on every floor. The top of the skyscraper featured the bank's boardroom and other facilities for the board of directors. Office tenants were attracted to the tower by modern facilities such as radio receivers, and the building was also the second high-rise in the U.S. to be equipped with air conditioning. The skyscraper is topped by a red neon sign with the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society's initials (PSFS) on it. Visible for 20 miles (32 km), the sign has become a Philadelphia icon. Next to the sign is a television tower erected in 1948.

In the 1980s, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society began expanding into other financial services, but lost millions in its new business ventures. In 1992 the bank and its building were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). That same year the skyscraper was 85 percent vacant, with most business attracted to the larger, more modern office space built in the city in the 1980s. The FDIC auctioned the building off, and it was bought by developers to turn into a Loews Hotel. The Pennsylvania Convention Center opened in 1993 a block away from the skyscraper, and the city was promoting the creation of enough hotel space to host a political convention in 2000. Conversion into a hotel began in 1998, and the Loews Philadelphia Hotel opened in April 2000, in time for the 2000 Republican National Convention.

Hotel [edit] Converted into the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, the building contains 581 guestrooms including 37 suites in a total building area of 631,006 sq.ft.[27] The hotel features 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) square feet of function space in three ballrooms and fourteen conference rooms. The hotel also offers a 31st-floor Concierge Library and fifth-floor spa, pool, and fitness center.[5]

In the base of the building, the banking hall, now called the Millennium Hall Ballroom, is used as function space. Separated by a metal and glass screen, the mezzanine levels are used as pre-function space and dining areas. Located by the 12th Street entrance on the ground floor, the lobby is decorated by the original vault door from the third-floor mezzanine, the bronze ceiling from the safe deposit box area, and the tellers' counters from the banking hall. Designed to mimic the building's original style, the lobby contains stainless-steel columns that replicate the ones found on the mezzanine, and the walls are of wood and marble. The ground floor also contains a Solefood Restaurant, Bar, and Lounge and a street-level, glass-walled news studio for the NBC affiliate WCAU.[5][28]

Attached on the south side of the building is a four-story, concrete-framed, glass and aluminum addition, which houses a parking garage's entrance and exit, meeting spaces, hotel service facilities, a kitchen, and a room for mechanical equipment. On the north side of the building a canopy with Loews signage on it was added to the Market Street entrance.[5] The loading areas and motor lobby are located off of 12th street and often become heavily congested.

The skyscraper is topped by a distinctive sign with the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society's initials.[11] The 27 feet (8.2 m) high letters are white by day and illuminated with red neon lights by night. The sign hides mechanical equipment and can be seen for 20 miles (32 km).[5][8]

The PSFS sign has become a Philadelphia icon.[5] At the time of construction, abbreviations were rarely used but architects Howe and Lescaze pushed for their use as the full name would have been illegible from the ground.[8] When Loews announced it was going to be converted into a hotel, the first question asked by reporters was what was happening to the sign. Loews briefly considered altering the sign by projecting the Loews name on it, but the idea was soon scrapped.[6]

South of the sign is a television tower. The 258 feet (79 m) tower is set up for relaying TV and radio signals and was added to the skyscraper in 1948.[4][29]