Located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, USA, the complex is named after its owner Tony Stark, who is the alter ego of the superhero Iron Man.

Currently, the main Stark Tower is located in Broadway, occupying the space where the Condé Nast Building is in the real world.

It is located in the vicinity of Manhattan's Columbus Circle approximately 10 blocks north of the Baxter Building, headquarters of the superhero team the Fantastic Four.

Later, when the Sentry became a member of the Avengers, his long-hidden Watchtower appeared, integrating itself atop the Main Tower and the building's existing architecture.

The lower levels of the Main Tower, along with both the South and North Buildings, are largely occupied with Stark's subsidiaries and non-profit organizations.

During Secret Invasion, many non-powered New York citizens, including Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich, end up at Stark Tower.

With the Sentry's death, his watch tower disappeared from the rooftop where it is replaced by Heimdall's observatory as sign of solidarity between Earth and Asgard.

[12] Following an eight-month ellipsis, Tony, who is suffering financial difficulties at the time, is forced to sell the rebuilt Stark Tower to a Chinese company called Qeng Enterprises.

An alternate version of the Stark Tower appears in the Ultimate Universe as the corporate headquarters of Stark/Stane, one of the largest companies of the technocratic North American Union, a power bloc that includes the former United States territories after its central government was dissolved in 1969.

[19] After Obadiah Stane is killed during an assault on an international event in Latveria and Howard Stark disappears inside the city, the Maker's Council takes advantage of the resulting power vacuum and Tony Stark's rebellion against their rule over Earth, conducting a false flag attack on the Tower by making use of a Stark/Stane satellite, framing Tony and his allies as terrorists.