Category: Colorado Architecture - Buildings and Bridges

Description: I relocated to Denver Colorado from Washington, DC, by way of Beaumont, Texas on July 17, 2000. I experimented for one week to make sure that I knew where to park in the morning and either take a bus from Nine Mile (I-225 and Parker Rd.) or to take the train which began serving “Riders” from Nine Mile on the same day that I reported for duty at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office. Little did I know that the new train line would stop in front of the building as the Regional HUD Office, located at 633 17th Street in Denver, Colorado. On rainy or cold days, I would time the train’s arrival and departure to stay dry and warm. For the first year, the employees in the building enjoyed affordable breakfasts and lunches served in a restaurant inside of the building. When the restaurant closed, we were on our own to find food selections outside of the building. 633 17th Street, formerly known as the First Interstate Tower North, is a high-rise building. The building was completed in 1974 and rises 32 floors and 434 feet in height. The building stands as the twelfth-tallest building in Denver and Colorado. It also stood as the tallest building in the city at the time of its 1974 completion and held that distinction for four years before being surpassed. At the time of its completion, 633 17th Street was known as “First Interstate Tower North” after First Interstate Bancorp, its primary tenant. After First Interstate merged with Wells Fargo in 1996, the building’s address became its official name. First Interstate Tower North was built adjacent to the pre-existing First Interstate Tower South, now known as 621 17th Street, which rises 386 feet in height. The two buildings together form the First of Denver Plaza.