[6][7] Rising 566 feet (173 m), the 47-story Penobscot was the tallest building in Michigan from its completion in 1928 until construction of the Renaissance Center hotel tower in 1977.

The following version of the choice of the name of the building is found in an undated publication believed to have been published concurrent with the building's dedication in 1928: The architect Wirt C. Rowland, of the prominent Smith Hinchman & Grylls firm based in Detroit, designed the Penobscot in an elaborate Art Deco style in 1928.

Clad in Indiana Limestone with a granite base, it rises like a sheer cliff for thirty stories, then has a series of setbacks culminating in a red neon beacon tower.

At night, the building's upper floors are lit in floodlight fashion, topped with a red sphere.

[citation needed] For a period of time in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was renamed the City National Bank Building, after its major tenant.

In May 2012, the Penobscot Building was sold for $5 million to the Toronto-based real estate company, Triple Properties Detroit.