Originally the Title and Trust Building, the Orpheum Lofts rise in front of you, an 11-story Art Deco high-rise designed by local architects Lescher & Mahoney. Built as the largest office building in Arizona at the time of its construction in 1930, its grand opening was celebrated on January 31, 1931. The address, 114 West Adams Street, marks a site with deeper layers: around 1900 a two-story O'Neill Building stood here, home to early Phoenix lawyers O'Neill and McKean and later the Arizona Industrial Congress until it was razed in 1929 to make way for this tower.
The project, expected to cost $650,000, was built by the William Simpson Construction Company of Los Angeles. Look closely at the facade: the bricks were specially made in California and grow progressively lighter in color from bottom to top, a deliberate Art Deco touch that pulls your eye upward. For many years a neon sign on the north side advertised the 'Phoenix Titles & Trust Co,' a familiar city landmark.
Notice the bricks lightening from bottom to top up this 11-story Art Deco tower, a reminder of the neon sign that once lit the building's north side.