The Miami Tower is a 47-story, landmark office

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; previously known as the Bank Of America Tower and CenTrust Tower. It is located in central

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

. It is currently the 21st tallest building in Miami and Florida. On April 18, 2012, the

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Peñas de Aya, small mountain range in Oiartzun, Gipuzkoa * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ...

's Florida Chapter placed it on its list of ''Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places'' as the Bank of America Tower. In 2022, the office skyscraper was purchased by DRA Advisors and CP Group, the largest office landlord in Downtown Miami and Florida.

History

Built for CenTrust Bank in 1987, the 47-story building ranks in the top twenty tallest skyscrapers in Miami and in Florida at a height of and is known for its elaborate night-time illuminations and its dramatic three glass tiers. Designed by the

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an American architectural firm based in New York City, founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei and other associates.

architectural firm, the tower consists of two separate structures: A 10-story

parking garage A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

owned by the city and the 47-story office tower built upon the air rights of the garage. Preliminary planning for the tower began in February 1980; construction on the garage began by November. The garage was completed in February 1983 and the tower began construction a year later. In August 1984, while the tower was under construction, a 5-alarm fire began on the ninth floor; construction was subsequently delayed for several weeks. On December 15, 1985, the tower was lit for the first time in

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

aqua and snowflakes. By mid-1986, the tower's exterior was complete and the grand opening for the complex was set for early fall that same year. Due to the uneven settling of the tower's foundation to one side by several inches, and the resulting misalignment of the tower's elevator rails, the grand opening for the complex was delayed until February 1987. The complete complex featured the world's only elevated

metro station A metro station or subway station is a train station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the syste ...

in a skyscraper (

Knight Center station Knight Center is a Metromover station in Downtown, Miami, Florida located in the Miami Tower. This station is located at the intersection of Southwest Second Street and Second Avenue, connected to the namesake James L. Knight Center by a gla ...

). It also gained notoriety for its luxurious interiors, including a

skylobby A sky lobby is an intermediate interchange floor in a skyscraper where people can change from an express elevator that stops only at the sky lobby to a local elevator that stops at a subset of higher floors. Early uses of the sky lobby include ...

on the 11th floor covered in marble and gold and a outdoor terrace. Also its indoor

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

features

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

cabinets. The tower is connected to the James L. Knight Center by a pedestrian walkway and on the first floor is a retail spine covered with green marble. The tower contains with of office space and a , 1,500 space

. The tower can be seen in the "Streetwise" episode of ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'' which aired on December 5, 1986, as well as in the opening credits of the show from season 3. The building appears during the end credits of the 1986 film ''

Flight Of The Navigator ''Flight of the Navigator'' is a 1986 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker, Michael Burton, and Phil Joanou. It stars Joey Cramer as David Freeman, a 12-year-old boy abducted by an ali ...

'' in an aerial shot of Miami. The top floors can clearly be seen still under construction. The roof of the building was the set of

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

's 1994 video for "

Turn The Beat Around "Turn the Beat Around" is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, and performed by American actress and singer Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976 (see 1976 in music), originally appearing on her debut album, '' Never Gonna Let You Go' ...

". The building is also one of many featured on the backdrop of the stage on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

''. On January 1, 2010, the building was renamed the Miami Tower.

Many colors of the tower

The tower's three tiers allow it to have multiple

color scheme In color theory, a color scheme is a combination of 2 or more colors used in aesthetic or practical design. Aesthetic color schemes are used to create style and appeal. Colors that create a harmonious feeling when viewed together are often u ...

s in tribute to certain holidays and seasons. In 2012, a $1.5 million

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

system was installed on the tower to allow for more elaborate displays with a much quicker transition time. Below are some examples of the various colors used: Image:Bankofamericawhite.jpg, Tower lit white on most nights of the year Image:Miami Tower 20101212.jpg, Tower lit red and green for Christmas Season 2010 Image:Bank of America tower in Miami Christmas 2007.jpg, Tower lit blue and decorated with snowflake lights for Christmas Seasons before 2010 Image:Miamiatnightpink.jpg, Tower lit pink for National

Breast cancer awareness month Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), also referred to in the United States as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase aware ...

Image:Bankofamericaredpurple.jpg, Tower lit red and purple for Valentine's Day 2008 Image:Miamiatnightstpatrick.jpg, Tower lit green for

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

Image:Bankofamericaeaster.png, Tower lit green and pink for

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

Image:Bankofamericayellow.jpg, Tower lit yellow on several nights of the year Image:Bankofamericaredwhiteblue.jpg, Tower lit as

American flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

for

American Independence Day Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

President's Day Presidents' Day, officially Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is often celebrated to honor all those who served as presidents of the United ...

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, i ...

Image:Miamifireworks.jpg, Tower lit as American flag on

4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

, showing

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

in foreground Image:Bank of America Tower Miami red.jpg, Tower lit red for National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims 9/25/2008 Image:Bankofamericatowercolumbus.jpg, Tower lit as

Italian flag The flag of Italy (, ), often referred to as The Tricolour (, ), is a flag featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white and red, with the green at the hoist side, as defined by Article 12 of the Constitution of the Italian Repub ...

for

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...

Image:Bankofamericatowerpurple.jpg, Tower lit purple for

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

Image:Bankofamericathanksgiving.jpg, Tower lit for

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

In popular culture

The Miami Tower is referenced in several video games and TV shows. It was featured in the opening sequence of the 1980s TV show ''

'', even being referred to as the "'Miami Vice' Tower" when it was sold. It is also depicted in the video games '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' in the downtown area and in ''

Driver (video game) ''Driver'' (subtitled "''You Are the Wheelman''" in North America) is an action driving video game and the first installment in the ''Driver'' series. Developed by Reflections Interactive and published by GT Interactive, it was released on the ...

'' and ''

DRIV3R ''Driver 3'' (stylized as ''DRIV3R'') is a 2004 action-adventure game, the third installment in the ''Driver'' series. It was developed by Reflections Interactive, published by Atari, and released on PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in Ju ...

'' with its name is changed to "The Tower At International Place". The tower appears repeatedly in multiple scenes throughout the movie ''

'' as well as in the ''

'' television series and also in a scene in the 2006 version of '' Casino Royale'' *In the

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

television series ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

'', this building is referred to as the "Boston Federal Building".

References

External links

The Miami Tower website
{{Miami skyscrapers Skyscraper office buildings in Miami Bank of America buildings I. M. Pei buildings Office buildings completed in 1987 1987 establishments in Florida Central Business District (Miami)

History

Many colors of the tower

In popular culture

See also

References

External links