The complex was originally constructed by Oral Roberts University as City of Faith Medical and Research Center and meant to be a major charismatic Christian hospital.

Oral Roberts traveled to California in 1977 after the death of his daughter and son-in-law, who were killed along with five other passengers in a small airplane crash.

[4] During the pilgrimage, Roberts had a religious vision in which God directed him to construct the City of Faith Medical and Research Center.

They said that resources would be wasted as overhead increased caused by an abundance of empty beds, and that the hospital would divert medical staff leading to a shortage.

[12] Roberts told a television audience unless he raised $8 million by March, God would "call him home" (a euphemism for death).

The spacious complex includes three auditoriums with theatre-style seating, a fitness center, cafeteria, food court, convenience store and catering services.

[18] During the 1990s, CityPlex was the home of Commercial Financial Services, a large debt collection agency founded by Bill Bartmann, which at one point had almost four thousand employees, but then filed a high-profile bankruptcy in 1998.

In November 2010, it was reported that Bartmann would return to CityPlex with his new debt collection company, CFS II, taking a lease for two floors in the 20-story tower.

[19] A large bronze sculpture called Praying Hands sat directly in front of the lobby with a series of fountains and streams headed towards the street until the summer of 1991 when it was moved to the nearby campus entrance of Oral Roberts University.