A residential conversion is underway for the 16-story Insurance Center Building located at 330 S. Wells Street and Van Buren Street. The historic building was built in 1927 and designed by architects David Saul Klafter & James G. Ludgin. Despite ornamental terra cotta, decorative parapet, and art deco lobby, the building is not a Designated Chicago Landmark. However, the developer, Marc Realty, is planning a preservation-sensitive restoration that will meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, as determined by the National Park Service in order to qualify for the valuable Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits. No exterior modifications are planned other than window replacement and a rooftop deck.

Preservation Chicago applauds owner/developer Marc Realty and architecture firm NORR for their preservation sensitive adaptive reuse of this large, historic loop office building. We are thrilled that the Chicago development community, led by outstanding developers like Marc Realty, and includes Cedar Street Companies which is converting the 1925 Hartman Building/Bennett Brothers Building at 30 E. Adams Street, CA Ventures which is converting the 1915 Century Building at 202 S. State and the 1913 Consumers Buildings at 220 S. State Street, and Dolce Living Communities Residential which is converting the 1902 Barrister Hall/ National Life Building at 29 S. LaSalle Street, which have recognized the inherent value of historic buildings and have the sophistication to leverage the valuable historic credits and other incentives available. In each of these projects, Preservation Chicago would like to encourage the developer to pursue a Chicago Landmark Designation for each of these historic Chicago buildings.