IBM Building at 520 Capitol Mall

The former International Business Machines (IBM) building at 520 Capitol Mall in Sacramento was designed in 1963. This 67,200 square foot building provides eight floors of flexible office space, a penthouse for mechanical equipment, and a basement with service facilities for the main tenant. The site is an interior city lot, located on Capitol Mall, an important boulevard (one of the first areas to be redeveloped in the downtown area). The neighboring buildings are and have always been financial and government buildings.

The first, second and third floors were designed to be leased to and occupied by the major tenant (IBM). The other floors were divided into smaller office suites. The building was later acquired by IBM, who redesigned the interiors for their occupancy of the entire building. The original client was Dr, Charles E. Brown and the construction cost was $3 million including the 4-level parking structure which accommodates 207 cars. Continental Construction was the construction manager.

The head of IBM interviewed and hired Dreyfuss + Blackford even though they weren’t the owners, just the prime tenants. It was the first precast building in Sacramento, and the tallest building on Capitol Mall, in addition to being the first building in the redevelopment of Sacramento.