[1] City Tower was completed in 1965, one of three buildings forming the Piccadilly Plaza complex which was designed by Covell, Matthews & Partners and developed by Bernard Sunley & Sons between 1959 and 1965.

City Tower stands at right angles to Piccadilly and the north-facing wall is covered with designs based on circuit boards.

[2] The Tower has retail and leisure units on the ground floor and is Manchester's main radio transmitting station, which is located on the roof.

The developer Bruntwood sold City Tower to the asset management company Schroders for £132 million in 2014, but kept their headquarters in the building.

A refurbishment programme was drawn up in the late 1990s, but this was never realised until Bruntwood purchased Piccadilly Plaza for £65 million in 2004.