Herbert Bell of the Bell & Zoller Coal Company commissioned this 23-story skyscraper in 1924. When completed, it was one of the first generation skyscrapers that sprang up on North Michigan Avenue as a result of Burnham and Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago. The building's tripartite composition and Corinthian columns exemplify the Classical Revival style of architecture, rendered in terra cotta manufactured in Chicago by the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company. In 1956, the building was renamed when it was purchased by the Old Republic Life Insurance Company.