The Beacon on Chestnut, Office tower in downtown St. Louis, United States
The Beacon on Chestnut is a 44-story office tower in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, rising above most of the surrounding buildings. Its rectangular form and glass facade make it easy to spot from street level, and it stands close to the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi riverfront.
The tower was completed in 1986 as the headquarters for Southwestern Bell, one of the largest telephone companies in the United States at the time. As the company merged with others and eventually became part of AT&T, the building changed names and owners more than once.
The building sits at the heart of downtown St. Louis, close to the Gateway Arch, and shapes how people move through this part of the city. Workers, tourists and passersby all share the same stretch of Chestnut Street that runs past its base.
The tower is easy to reach on foot from the Gateway Arch and other downtown landmarks, as it sits right on Chestnut Street in the center of the city. Since it functions as an office building, only the ground-floor common areas are generally open to the public.
After Southwestern Bell moved out, the tower lost so much of its value that it became one of the cheapest skyscrapers for sale in the country for a time. This made it a widely discussed example of how quickly a large office tower can lose its footing when its main tenant leaves.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
