A mid the glass-fronted skyscrapers and modern high-rises that define the downtown Phoenix skyline sit two architectural treasures from the 1920s—the 10-story Luhrs Building and 14-story Luhrs Tower—both built by German immigrant George H.N. Luhrs. The buildings are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Parks Service.

Luhrs, a wheelwright by trade, came to Arizona in the 1860s. “He worked his way up from humble means and kept acquiring property,” says Kevin Weight of the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office. “He operated the Commercial Hotel, which was also known as the Luhrs Hotel at one point, and that led to the building of the two high-rises.”   

The iconic 10-story Luhrs Building at Central Avenue and Jefferson Street, designed by an El Paso architectural firm Trost & Trost in the Beaux-Arts style, opened in 1924 with the distinction of being the tallest building in Phoenix, as well as the tallest building between El Paso and Los Angeles, according to Weight. 

Brown bricks line the building that was home to a U.S. Treasury Department office from 1924 to 1935 and, until 1971, the prestigious Arizona Club, a lavish space with dining rooms, lounges and rooms for club members. In 2009, the building was renovated with the help of a historic preservation grant. 

Crowned by marble embellishment, a distinctive top cornice, concrete balustrade and arched windows, the building’s floors one through nine were recently transformed from office space into the 164-room Moxy Phoenix Downtown, a Marriott hotel catering to millennial travelers. The 10th floor remains a law office, and the cocktail bar, Bitter & Twisted, sits at street level.

Converting the building’s interior, which contained small offices, aging plumbing and low tiled ceilings, presented some design challenges for architect Jake Bodell, who followed National Park Service restoration guidelines. “Our initial intent was to show more of a rugged and raw side of the building,” he says. “But NPS didn’t want to see any exposed ductwork or pipes because that wouldn’t have been historically accurate.” The outside of the building remained unchanged.

Bodell’s design includes eye-catching double-height glass in the lobby, a mezzanine overlooking the lobby and small but efficient guest rooms with amenities such as coffee makers, towels and ironing boards stashed in a communal hallway closet.

Dallas interior designers Alyssa Stanley and Chris Shook worked with Moxy to incorporate essential brand features, including the lobby bar that serves as the hotel’s check-in desk, a video wall and game area. “We wanted to emphasize the masculine, business-driven evolution of the property. There were originally law offices, a Prohibition office and a barber shop,” Stanley says. The designers accomplished the design through materials, installing concrete floors and using a variety of darker/warmer textiles, such as worn leathers, rough woven fabrics and knotted woods. The duo honored the building’s history by adding a floating lobby wall festooned with business hats from the 1920s and 1930s; creating a custom wall covering intended to look like aging, torn-down posters; and preserving the octagonal columns but updating them with a coat of blue paint. 

Another original feature, the antique mail chute from the 10th floor to the lobby, is fondly remembered by Matthew Crane, a retired firefighter and fifth-generation member of the Luhrs family, who grew up with “free run of the building.” He recounts that as a child, he would regularly drop an envelope filled with metal washers down the chute to cause a ruckus in the lobby. 

Just down the block stands the 14-story art deco Luhrs Tower, an office building designed by the same El Paso architects. The 185-foot-tall steel-frame and concrete structure was completed in 1929. For decades, the Luhrs Tower was one of the tallest buildings in the Southwest, and famously appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 movie, “Psycho.” 

The Luhrs Tower lobby remains largely intact, faced with imported French marble, brass detailing, stenciled ceiling beams, marble stairs and an official U.S. Mail letterbox snuggled between elevator doors. The space still reflects the late 1920s, and Weight hopes it will stay that way. “The Luhrs Building and Luhrs Tower are iconic buildings in Phoenix. They are a tangible link to our history.” 

SOURCES

• luhrscitycenter.com
• marriott.com
• Adaptive reuse architect: Jake Bodell, FFKR Architects, Tempe, ffkr.com
• Interior designers: Alyssa Stanley and Chris Shook, flickmars.com