Founders Tower (Oklahoma City)

Founders Tower consists of a , cylindrical tower. From the ground floor to the 19th floor, the building has a diameter of , which expands to at the 20th. Small, cantilever balconies are located at the vertices of each of the buildings ten faces from the 3rd floor to the 14th; wider balconies protrude from each face from the 15th to the 19th floor. Founders Tower contains a total of 63 condominiums: four each on floors 3 through 17, one that takes up the entire 18th floor, and two penthouses on the 19th. The restaurant no longer revolves. The design of Founders Tower is representative of the Googie, also called "Populuxe", architectural style prevalent at a time when much of the United States was enamored with spaceflight. That layout and the presence of balconies, something that was irrelevant in an office setting, made it suitable, however, as a residential building. == History ==

The United Founders Life Tower was built by the real estate development arm of the United Founders Life Insurance Corporation. In addition to being the primary tenants of the skyscraper, the company expected to profit from the development of the mostly rural land surrounding the tower. When it was completed in 1964, the Founders Tower was the first skyscraper to be built in Oklahoma City outside of downtown. Its relatively isolated location in northwestern Oklahoma City and its unusual design spurred the development of the area. At the time the Space Needle inaugurated the first revolving restaurant in the United States at the World's Fair in Seattle, the design of Founders Tower was the first one changed to incorporate its own revolving restaurant in the United States. The building was sold in 1981 for $11.1 million to California-based National Capitol Real Estate Trust in 1981, with Northwest Investors retaining 25 percent ownership. The building was certified as a nuclear fallout shelter by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1983. United Founders foreclosed on Founders Tower in 1986 after National Capitol defaulted on loan payments for the remaining $4.92 million. It was sold at sheriff's sale on November 5, 1986 to the Protective Life Insurance Corporation, the parent company of United Founders. The tower was sold on April 24, 1989 to the U.S.–Swedish investment group, Growth Fund International Limited for $2.5 million. In 2005, Founders Tower was purchased, along with of surrounding land, for $4.6 million by the Bridgeport Development Group. The next year, a $50 million renovation, to convert the office building into condominiums and to reverse the 15 years of neglect from the constant buying-and-selling by out-of-state investors, was announced. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 15, 2013. == See also ==