Renaissance Tower (Dallas)
At the time of completion in 1974, it was the tallest building in Dallas at and was originally known as the First International Bancshares Tower (First International Bancshares, Inc. was the new holding company parent of First National Bank in Dallas). In 1985, it was surpassed by Fountain Place and Bank of America Plaza, which became Dallas's tallest building. It was also clear that Renaissance Tower would be overtaken by Comerica Bank Tower and Chase Tower then under construction. Therefore, in order to regain some status, the building underwent a major renovation in 1986 that included a re-glazed exterior and removal of the lighting on its sides. In 1986, James T. Chiles was brought in by the owner, the Prudential Insurance Company of America to design the broadcast center and towers on top the building, one of which was . This brought the structural height of the building up to , securing its place as the second-tallest building in Dallas. Excluding antennas and spires, the Renaissance Tower is the fifth-tallest.
List of tallest buildings and structures
That was in turn surpassed by the twin towers of New York’s original World Trade Center in 1972, which were in turn surpassed by the Sears Tower in Chicago in 1974. Now called the Willis Tower (since 2009) it was to its flat rooftop, or including its original antennas. But in 1978 One World Trade Center (commonly known as the north tower) attained a taller absolute height when it added its new broadcasting antenna, for a total height of . The WTC north tower maintained this height record (including its antenna) from 1978 until 2000, when the owners of the Willis Tower extended its broadcasting antennae for a total height of . Thus the status of the Willis Tower as the “totally” tallest was restored in the face of a new threat looming in the Far East — the “Siamese Twins.”