Luhrs Tower, an Art Deco skyscraper office building in Downtown Phoenix, holds the southeast corner of First Avenue and Jefferson Street, on the south side of the former Patriots Square Park. Built in 1929 by George Luhrs Jr.—a Phoenix native, Stanford Law School graduate, World War I US Army 2nd Lieutenant and businessman, and son of George Luhrs Sr., who served as a Phoenix City Councilman from 1881 to 1885—the tower rises to 185 feet (56 meters) and contains 14 stories. Notice the symmetrical setbacks at the 8th and 11th floors; those stepped profiles are pure Art Deco, a treatment Trost & Trost of El Paso employed when they designed it.
You can see a family resemblance to their O. T. Bassett Tower in El Paso, and the design even borrows elements from Eliel Saarinen’s Tribune Tower design. The A. F. Wasielewski Company of Phoenix was the general contractor that put these details in place. In a bit of flash on film, the tower even appears in the background of a scene from the 1960 movie Psycho as Marion Crane crosses the street with a deposit.
Notice the symmetrical setbacks at the 8th and 11th floors, the stepped Art Deco profile that spans First Avenue, Jefferson Street, and the south side of the former Patriots Square Park.