Luhrs Building
Phoenix, Arizona
Description: Luhrs Building
Other Names: none
Address: Central and Jefferson Streets, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona
Type: commercial: office building
Original Client: George Henry Nicholas Luhrs, Sr.
Date: 1923
Condition: extant
Architect or Firm: Henry C. Trost
Associated Architect or Firm: Trost & Trost
Contractors:
Dimensions and Orientation: L-shaped above the first floor, 10 stories, 121 feet 6 inches x 85 feet 6 inches. Basement
Budget/Cost: $750,000
Foundation: concrete
Wall Materials: brick
Roofing Materials: flat
Other Materials Used: brick venue and terra cotta ornament; copper marquee; reinforced steel and concrete. Interior was to be marble, granite, tile and birch mahogany. Two floor done in pine finish with ivory. Over the entrances on Jefferson and Central a ornamental marquees. Copper used in the metal. Front wall and pillars of granite up to a height of six feet.
Remodeling and Additions: remodeled n 2009 by Hansji Company
Present Owner: Hansji out of California
Location of Drawings: El Paso Public Library: (D-8) 43 sheets, ink-on-linen drawings, numbered 1 through 43, including side, front and rear elevations, dated January, 1923; Luhrs Family collection: two presentation drawings, watercolor over pencil; Arizona State University, Arizona Room Luhrs file: photograph of a rendering; photograph of rendering of proposal
Location of Documentary Photographs:
Bibliography: (1)El Paso Herald, December 29, 1922 page 16
(2) Arizona Republic, March 5, 1923 page 6 Bids open at the Commercial Hotel
(3) Arizona Republic, January 22, 1923 page 6
(4) Arizona Republic, December 14, 1922 page 1 Actual Work on $750,000 Edifice Will Begin March 1
Remarks: Commission 2576. In 2007, the Hansji brought the Luhrs block for $28 million. In 2009 the Luhrs Building was restored and renovated. The estimate cost to do the Tower and Building is $8million. Phoenix City Council gave Hansj a $500,000 historical preservation grant.
On Tuesday, March 6 bids were received in the Commercial Hotel. Contractors from all sections of the middle and far west submitted bids on the building, which was to be the largest between El Paso and Los Angeles. Bids came from St. Louis, Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles.
Four upper floors for the Arizona Club. The eighth and ninth floors of the building were set apart as sleeping quarters for the Arizona club members, fifty rooms. All but 8 rooms will have private baths. The tenth floor will house a lounging and club room. A French window will open onto a balcony. A main dining salon will be on the eleventh floor. Roof garden for club members. Three passenger elevator on the west side were used for the Arizona club only.
Prepared for the El Paso Public Library by Lloyd C. and June F. Engelbrecht under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 1990.