The late-modernist U.S. Bancorp Tower (“Big Pink”) is the second tallest skyscraper in downtown Portland, Oregon and the second tallest building in Oregon. The tower is 536 feet with 42 floors (41 floors excluding the missing 13th floor.) Even though it has one more floor, the tower is shorter than the Wells Fargo Center at the other end of downtown Portland.The initial plaza was built in 1973, with the tower and garage built ten years later in 1983. The tower was constructed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) with architect Pietro Belluschi as a consultant.
The most unique features of the tower are its shape and color. The SOM team had to work with the uniquely shaped lot while architect Pietro Belluschi was most concerned about the play of light and shadows on the tower. Belluschi choose glass and granite for the exterior facing which changes color depending on the weather and time of day—mostly pink.
Since 2002, the 30th floor of the tower has been occupied by the Portland City Grill, Portland's top-grossing restaurant. It is often cited as the restaurant with the best view in Portland.
The building was purchased by JPMorgan Asset Management in August 2006 for a price of $286 million. It was previously owned by Unico who purchased it in 2000 for a price of $165 million.