Tower Life Building

San Antonio

The Tower Life Building is a landmark and historic building in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. Construction of the tower began in 1927 and the building rises 404 feet and has 31 floors. The building, which opened in 1929, was originally named the Smith-Young Tower and is the central component of a partially completed development called the Bowen Island Skyscrapers. The eight sided, neo-gothic brick and Ludowici green terra-cotta tower was designed by noted local architectural firm Ayres & Ayres. The building also housed San Antonio's first Sears, Roebuck and Company store in its lowest 6 levels. The other completed building in the development is the former Plaza Hotel, which opened in 1927. The property became the local outlet of Hilton Hotels in 1956 and was converted into the Granada Apartments in 1966. Subsequent structures in the development were never built as a direct result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. In the 1940s the building was renamed the Transit Tower for the San Antonio Transit Company, which the Smith Brothers purchased in 1943. In 1953 a television transmission tower was added to the structure.