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The Wells Fargo Building, originally the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the architectural firm Simon & Simon, the building was erected for the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Co. in 1928. The 29-story high-rise is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was long regarded as premier office space, but by the 1980s, tenants were leaving for newer buildings in the West Market Street neighborhood. Extensive rehab work has since drawn new tenants. Its largest tenant has always been the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company or its successor companies — today, Wells Fargo. The limestone and granite skyscraper features recesses that give the building an H-shape above the fifth floor. Decorations include sculpture by Piccirilli Brothers and of marble. Seven medallions, mainly depicting early American coins, decorate the street-level facade. Bas-relief figures decorate the spandrels above the building's bronze doors, which are themselves decorated by high-relief panels depicting the history of commerce and civilization. ==History== In the late 1920s, numerous high-rises were constructed in Center City Philadelphia. Among the businesses commissioning new high-rises was the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company, the result of the 1926 merger between Fidelity Trust Company and the Philadelphia Trust Company. Before the merger, in 1925, architects Edward P. Simon and Grant M. Simon of the firm Simon and Simon were approached to design a new building. The designs were complete by the end of 1926 and in January 1927 general contractor Irwin & Leighton was engaged to build the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company Building. The site of the building along Broad Street was previously the location of the Forrest Theater and the "Yellow Mansion" (also known as the Dundas Lippincott House). Construction began in 1927 and the building was opened on June 1, 1928.〔 The building became premier office space in the center of the city, serving as the home of major law firms among other tenants. In 1953, steel and concrete pen houses were built at the back of the building to house air conditioning equipment.〔 In July 1982, the parent company of Fidelity Bank, Fidelcor, put up for sale Fidelity Building Corp., a subsidiary which owns The Fidelity Building and the neighboring Witherspoon Building. In December of that year, Fidelcor announced that the Al-Tajir Foundation, a real estate investment company owned by Mahdi Al Tajir, had agreed to buy Fidelity Building Corp. for US$63.5 million.〔 During the late-1980s office building boom in the West Market Street area of Center City, businesses left the Fidelity Building for newer office space. As a result, the building's owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.〔 That same year, the Fidelity Building Corporation was purchased by First Fidelity Bankcorp, a company formed in the 1988 merger of the building's original owners and First Fidelity Corporation of Newark, New Jersey. First Union Corporation took control of the building in 1995 when it bought Fidelity Bankcorp. Shortly after taking over, First Union spent millions of dollars renovating the facade and interiors and modernizing the mechanical systems.〔 In 2000, First Fidelity Building Corporation, a company controlled by First Union, put the Fidelity Building up for sale.〔 Later that year, Nicholas Schorsch, of the American Financial Resource Group, and a group of investors bought the building for about US$110 million. In 2006, a portion of the lower floors of the building was sold to Resnick Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Jack Resnick & Sons Incorporated. In April 2008, American Financial Realty Trust sold the remainder of the building to SSH Real Estate and Young Capital for US$57.7 million. During the early 2000s, the building became known as the Wachovia Building. Wachovia became the building's largest tenant after merging with First Union Corporation early in the decade. In 2006, Wachovia re-negotiated its lease, which was set to expire in 2010. After exploring other potential new office space in Center City, Wachovia made a deal to stay in the Wachovia Building along with the neighboring Witherspoon Building, the nearby One South Broad, and the Widener Building until the 2020s. The building became known as the Wells Fargo Building after Wells Fargo, which bought Wachovia in 2008, re-branded Wachovia area banks in April 2011. Wells Fargo marketed the change by having a stagecoach carrying Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter and others ride from Philadelphia City Hall to the Wells Fargo Building. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wells Fargo Building (Philadelphia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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