The Van Sweringen brothers built the tower for $179 million as an office building on top of Cleveland's new rail station, the Cleveland Union Terminal. It was originally planned as 14 stories, and then expanded to 52 floors and 708 feet.
It was completed in 1927 and opened for tenants in 1928, though the whole Union Terminal complex was not dedicated until 1930. It rests on caissons 280 feet deep.
When it was finished it was the second-tallest building in the world, and it stayed the tallest in North America outside New York City until 1964. In 2016 a new owner turned 11 of the lower floors into 293 apartments.