WILLIS TOWER INLINE FOR $ 500MILLIONFACE- LIFT
Willis Tower, once the world’s tallest building, now the nation’s second- tallest, is in line for a $ 500 million face- lift under an ambitious plan embraced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“They’re investing half a billion dollars in an iconic building. Blackstone is a premier real estate company. They could do that anywhere. They chose Chicago. It’s an incredible vote of confidence,” the mayor said by phone on Tuesday afternoon.
“Making the first floor open, accessible . . . is a smart idea. . . . It’s an investment in the South Loop,” he said. “It’ll be more receptive to foot traffic for people coming, staying longer and also not going outside the South Loop for lunch. It’s gonna be a tremendous draw.”
The plan calls for six levels of restaurant, entertainment and retail space, with three of the floors above ground and three below ground.
The 300,000 square feet of entertainment space could become an attraction unto itself for thousands of building employees and 1.7 million annual visitors drawn to the popular Skydeck Chicago observation deck with its panoramic views of the city.
The 103rd- floor Skydeck will also be enhanced to create what building owners promise will be a “world- class and one- of- a- kind family entertainment experience.”
Blackstone and Equity Office have agreed to offer 5,000 Skydeck tickets each year to the Chicago Public Schools.
“A lot of kids don’t know about downtown. Don’t see the office buildings. Don’t ride in elevators. This is going to make sure that this icon is part of all Chicago kids’ lives,” Emanuel said.
The face- lift for the Willis Tower plaza is a centerpiece of the ambitious plan.
It will include a 30,000- square- foot outdoor deck and garden and a new, three- story transparent glass structure set atop the existing stone plaza.
Beneath the glass facade will be three subterranean floors “organized around a three- story winter garden crowned with a dramatic glass skylight.” It will provide “unobstructed views of all 110 floors” above. Atop the structure will be a skylight made of a “curved grid shell.”
Architects noted that the building once known as Sears Tower was built with the idea of separating the “urban streetscape” from the building to “minimize” pedestrian traffic.
The new design is aimed at breaking that “barrier” and “re- energizing” the downtown area.
Billed as the “first major renovation in the building’s 43- year history, the plan also includes 150,000 square feet of space for “exclusive tenant use.”
Willis Tower is owned by Blackstone, a private equity and real estate investment firm, and its Chicago affiliate, Equity Office Properties.
Emanuel’s enthusiastic endorsement virtually guarantees that the project will be more warmly received than a similar plan for the John Hancock Center, which ultimately was scrapped amid opposition from downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly ( 42nd).
Reilly said Tuesday he has been working with Blackstone for months to “help shape this exciting redevelopment project” at “one of the most iconic” buildings in the Chicago skyline.
“This is a great opportunity to add newlife and activity to the base of an already popular tourism destination with new retail, tourism and hospitality destinations,” the alderman wrote in an email to the Chicago Sun- Times.
Although the project is “heading in the right direction,” Reilly said there are “important details” to be resolved. They include: better managing traffic in and around the building; improving curbside loading; enhancing pedestrian safety; determining which portions of the plaza and open spaces will be publicly accessible; determining appropriate signage for the lower levels of the structure and planning for construction staging.
Formerly known as Sears Tower, the Willis Tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive, was the nation’s tallest building until 2014, when it was knocked off that pedestal by One World Trade Center in New York.
“At the time it was done, it stood out. It’s an icon. . . . Other buildings are more gentle with their curves. This one is more muscular,” Emanuel said, noting that the renovation will soften some of those hard edges.