First National Bank of Oregon announced it would build a new headquarters building in 1957, with the contract to build the structure going to
Hoffman Construction Company. The planned $3.5 million, five-story building was designed by
Stanton, Boles, Maguire & Church and was to have of space. A second five-story building would then be built in the footprint of the old bank building at SW 6th and Stark. The
curtain wall began going up in November 1958, and consisted of glass mosaic squares, becoming the first building in the Northwest to use this new type of panel. In September 1959, the first of the two buildings opened. The exterior mosaic squares were Italian blue and mounted in wall sections made of aluminum. and the combined building opened in September 1960. On the ground floor, the plans called for the new building to be connected to First National's former headquarters building, a three-story structure built in 1916, which continued to house the main public branch, facing SW 5th Avenue. In 1972, First National Bank of Oregon moved its headquarters to a new building located elsewhere in downtown, the
First National Bank Tower, but retained a bank branch in the old building on 6th Avenue. Over time, First National became First Interstate Bank and then Wells Fargo through a series of
mergers and acquisitions. First National sold the old headquarters building in October 1972 for $3.1 million to Schnitzer Investment Company. The building was then sold by Schnitzer in 1976 to First Farwest Life Insurance Company to serve as its headquarters, with the building renamed as the
First Farwest Life Building. First Farwest Corp. sold the building, which had served as the insurer's headquarters, to United Trust Fund Inc. in 1987 for $25 million, though Farwest remained a tenant. United Trust then sold the building in August 1988 for $30.5 million to Almaden Plaza Associates, which included the lease with Farwest. After the bankruptcy of Farwest, Almaden Plaza Associates could no longer pay the mortgage, and the building was deeded to
John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company by Almaden in 1990, who then sued United Trust over misrepresentations concerning Farwest. The building was purchased by the
Louis Dreyfus Property Group (LDPG) in 1999 from John Hancock. LDPG sold the building to Felton Properties and Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc. in 2004 for $30.25 million.
UTi Worldwide Inc. became a major tenant in 2011 with leased over several floors. In late 2017 the building was purchased by investors for $68 million. ==Details==