The complex was built from 1967 to 1970 in the course of the redevelopment of Alexanderplatz when it was located in East Berlin. It was designed by the team of Roland Korn, Heinz Scharlipp and Hans Erich Bogatzky. However, the design as built differs in the shape and location of the tower on the lot from that envisaged in the 1964 plan for redevelopment of the square. The hotel opened as the Hotel Stadt Berlin, part of East Germany's Interhotel chain. It was a four-star hotel and mainly served for the accommodation of Comecon representatives. There was a panorama restaurant on the 37th floor and unusually fast elevators for the time and place.