POTENTIAL WIN: Five Historic LaSalle Street Corridor Skyscrapers Selected for Adaptive Reuse

Continental and Commercial National Bank, 1914, Daniel Burnham, 208 S. LaSalle Street. Image credit: Lamar Johnson Collaborative
The Field Building, 1934, Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, 135 S. LaSalle Street. Rendering credit: Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Clark Adams Building, 1927, Burnham Brothers, 105 W. Adams Street. Rendering credit: Blackwood Group and Celadon Partners

“Two more proposals to create affordable housing on LaSalle Street could get city funding.

“The proposals are part of an initiative to revitalize LaSalle Street in the Financial District by turning office buildings into residential units. Developers pitched ideas, and the city initially chose three in March — but two semi-finalists resubmitted their proposals and have been chosen to move forward and possibly get tax-increment finance funding.

“The final two picks are for 105 W. Adams St. and 30 N. LaSalle St.

“The five proposals need City Council approval to get the funding and move forward. If approved, they’ll create more than 1,600 housing units, with more than 600 of them affordable.

“The conversions could reduce upper-story commercial vacancies along the corridor by nearly 50 percent, officials said.

“‘As LaSalle Street continues to evolve as one of the most distinguished and storied corridors in the Midwest, these conversions reaffirm the city’s support for innovative projects and improvements that reinforce its economic vitality for all Chicagoans,’ Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a news release.

“The three other proposals are for projects at 111 W. Monroe St., 135 S. LaSalle St. and 208 S. LaSalle St. They are slated to create 1,059 apartments, 317 of them affordable, and will get $188 million in tax-increment finance funding.

“All five proposals will go through a review process with the city’s planning and housing departments, according to a news release. They will then move to the Community Development Commission and then City Council for final approval.” (Mercado, Block Club Chicago, 5/9/23)

“The winning proposals total 1.6 million square feet of space and include:

The Monroe Residences & Hotel, 111 W. Monroe St.
The Field Building, 135 S. LaSalle St.
The LaSalle Residences, 208 S. LaSalle St.
Clark Adams Building, 105 W. Adams St.
30 N. LaSalle St. (Site of the Stock Exchange Building by Louis Sullivan)

Preservation Chicago encourages Chicago Landmark Designation for the LaSalle Street buildings that are not currently landmarks, including 111 W. Monroe and 105 W. Adams. Landmark designation would require a higher quality adaptive reuse, retention of the historic building features, and would help ensure these buildings qualify for millions of dollars of Historic Tax Credits.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

57 − 53 =

Captcha verification failed!
CAPTCHA user score failed. Please contact us!