The complex was ordered built by the administration of President Adolfo López Mateos, between 1960 and 1965, with financing and condominium administration provided by the Banco Nacional Hipotecario, Urbano y de Obras Publicas, S.A. The area has been an urban center since the pre-Hispanic period, when it began as an independent city state on an island in Lake Texcoco. By the time Spaniards arrived, the island had been incorporated into the Aztec Empire centered in the nearby island city of Tenochtitlan. Tlatelolco was famous for its large market, which continued to exist after the Spanish conquest. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the area was a train yard for the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México. The modern apartment complex was built over the then-abandoned train yard. It surrounds the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, a place that symbolizes the synthesis of Mexico's pre-Hispanic and colonial pasts with the modern day. This plaza contains the archeological site of Tlatelolco with its ceremonial center, the parish church of Santiago Tlatelolco and the modern buildings that surround them, including a building associated with the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. The project involved a total of 130 buildings over an area of , with schools, hospitals, markets, businesses, church and police stations. Its signature building was the Torre Insignia or "Torre Banobras". This was built in the form of a triangle or lance point (to resist earthquakes) 127 meters high with 24 floors. It was originally surrounded by gardens and had a large reflective pool. This tower contains the Carrillon Clasico, one of the world's few glockenspiels and the only one in Mexico City. It consists of 47 metallic bells, considered to be the optimal number for four octaves. They were cast in Belgium and weigh 26 tons. The main bells are dedicated to Hidalgo, Morelos, Cuauhtémoc, Madero and López Mateos . A sixth bell is dedicated to relations between Mexico and Belgium.