“A 43-story office tower in Chicago’s Loop business district has been granted preliminary landmark status, an important step toward funding a conversion of much of the property into 349 apartments — while touching off a debate about the city’s preservation process and the merits of the building that replaced a Louis Sullivan-designed gem in the 1970s.

“The Commission on Chicago Landmarks is providing preliminary city landmark status for the tower at 30 N. LaSalle St. in the heart of the financial district. The decision is a key step toward making the property eligible for about $47 million in tax reductions as part of Cook County’s Class L tax program that aims to help preserve historic properties.

“The Chicago debate spotlights a broader issue of historic preservation as mid-20th century structures throughout the country age and face similar decisions about their future.

“The tax breaks over 12 years, coupled with $57 million in tax-increment financing dollars already in hand, would help Chicago-based developer Golub & Co. and Houston-based lender Corebridge Financial fund a planned conversion of low-rise floors into apartments and major upgrades to office floors.

“That property is part of a broader, city-backed initiative to transform older, out-of-demand office space for apartments. Public dollars are available for projects in which at least 30% of the newly created units will have below-market, affordable rents.

“‘Golub & Co. Managing Principal Lee Golub described the demolition and especially Nickel’s death as ‘tragic,’ but he said the redevelopment is now important in reviving the city’s core.

“‘We want to bring the property back to life, and the Class L status with help with the rebirth of the office space,’ Golub told CoStar News. (Ori, CoStar News, 12/8/25)

“When architect Louis Sullivan’s famed Chicago Stock Exchange Building was wrecked in 1972 to make room for a 44-story office tower, it caused an outrage that made national headlines and birthed the city’s modern preservation movement.

“The Landmarks report also details the tower’s fraught history and even uses it to help make the case for designating the building. Landmarks division architectural historian Matt Crawford said the site has a “difficult history” but added “the landmarks commission hasn’t really shied away from those stories.”

“Built in 1894, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, with its undulating bay windows, magnificently arched ornamental entrance and a cornice as crisp and prominent as a hat brim, was among Louis Sullivan and partner Dankmar Adler’s finest work. Its double-height trading room was a treasure of details, including wall stenciling, stained glass and guided column capitals.

“But by the 1960s, the building — like many other Downtown architectural treasures from the late 19th century, such as Adler and Sullivan’s Garrick Theater, 64 W. Randolph St. — had fallen into disrepair and was slated for the wrecking ball. The demolitions were backed by then-Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was building a new Downtown of gleaming skyscrapers and public plazas.

“For preservationists, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building was a line in the sand. They picketed, protested and lobbied to save the structure. For a while, it worked. Daley held up demolition and ordered a study that would determine if it was financially feasible to save the building. The study’s findings: No.

“While the Chicago Stock Exchange Building was being demolished, photographer and preservationist Richard Nickel and his comrades, including Vinci, spent months salvaging ornaments, including the trading room floor, from the doomed building. Nickel was killed in 1972 when a portion of the building collapsed on him during demolition.

“The trading floor was rebuilt inside the Art Institute of Chicago, while the historic arch sits outside of the museum at Monroe Street and Columbus Drive.

“And irony doubles down: The current 30 N. LaSalle stands to benefit from landmark protections and ordinances that were strengthened as a result of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building’s demolition.” (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/28/25)

(Excerpts below from Ward Miller’s testimony at the Commission on Chicago Landmarks hearing on December 5, 2025)

“We at Preservation Chicago support the Preliminary Chicago Landmark Recommendation and Designation, along with the proposed reuse of the 30 N. LaSalle Street Building, as part of the larger ‘LaSalle Street Reimagined Project,’ to revision existing office structures.

“We recognize the complicated history of this site, as it was the location of Adler & Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange Building from 1894 to 1972, and a structure that should have never been destroyed, but instead given the honor, recognition and protections offered a Chicago Landmark Designation. The building’s loss is still agonizingly recognized as a tragedy to this day, more than half a century later.

“The efforts to save the Chicago Stock Exchange, featured in publications around the world, and recognized as a masterpiece since its initial construction, was tragically demolished, despite many public outcries to preserve and protect the structure. The potential threat to the building in 1970, sparked another rally and outcry to recognize such seminal commercial buildings as architectural and historical landmarks.

“Those advocacy efforts began with the Schiller/Garrick Theater Building in 1960, also by Adler & Sullivan, and set the stage for larger preservation movement in America and later for the protection of many other structures in Chicago and elsewhere across the nation.

We are of the opinion at Preservation Chicago, that the designation of the building and the site at 30 N. LaSalle will share the story of the advocacy efforts to save the Stock Exchange Building and the formation of some of the advocacy organizations, along with policies and protections we have in place today for Landmark buildings and our historic built environment. That story should not be forgotten even 50 years later and the designation of the building and site—along with its history, will help to keep that story alive and relevant, as these designation reports become virtual documents, seen and shared across the world.

“Realizing the tragedy of the loss of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building and the desire to designate its replacement building; we at Preservation Chicago would like to respectfully request the City of Chicago and the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to consider an amendment to the designation, and to include two existing extensions of the building that remain connected to the 30 N. LaSalle Street site. These include the “Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room” and the terra-cotta “Chicago Stock Exchange Entry Arch” which is orange-rated in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey. Both were carefully disassembled, relocated and reconstructed at The Art Institute of Chicago.

“We are requesting that these extensions, which are also considered ‘works of art and architecture,’ be included as significant features in this Chicago Landmark Designation as an integral part of the site and the story.” (Excerpts from Ward Miller’s testimony regarding 30 N. LaSalle at the Commission on Chicago Landmarks hearing on December 5, 2025)

After a lengthy process of deliberation and numerous conversations with stakeholders, Preservation Chicago decided to vocally support the Class L designation of 30 N. LaSalle. Having written The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan, which has since become the definitive book showcasing the architecture of Adler & Sullivan through the photographs of Richard Nickel, Ward Miller brought a remarkable depth of knowledge to this conversation.

Over 50 years later, the demolition of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building still hurts. Many preservationist wish that the Chicago Stock Exchange Building was never demolished. However, the preservation effort for the Chicago Stock Exchange Building was fought and lost five decades ago, and while its memory continues to motivate us to push harder to save the historic buildings that remain, we cannot change the past. However, we can still influence the future.

While there is a natural impulse to oppose the Chicago Landmark Designation and Class L designation of 30 N. LaSalle out of respect to the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, this approach will not bring back the lost building and it will miss the opportunity for positive outcomes. The designation of 30 N. LaSalle allows for three specific benefits moving forward.

Firstly, it allows for the adaptive reuse of a large building in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. This is one of six historic LaSalle Street Corridor buildings that are part of the ongoing LaSalle Street Reimagined Project effort to reactive largely vacant historic office buildings as residential. We see this effort as essential for restoring and reactivating historic buildings, and a significant step towards reenergizing the Loop with increased vibrancy. Preservation Chicago has been strongly supportive and deeply involved in this effort at every step of the process by supporting each building individually and the larger initiative more broadly.

Secondly, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building site is highly significant to the Preservation movement, both in Chicago and nationally. The Chicago Landmark Designation report of 30 N. LaSalle documents the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, its significance, and the tragic story of its loss. The report details the preservation effort to save the Chicago Stock Exchange Building which was one of the seminal efforts that started and shaped the preservation movement that we know today.

Thirdly, the Chicago Landmark Designation of 30 N. LaSalle brings heightened awareness to the surviving elements of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, specifically the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room and Chicago Stock Exchange Entry Arch both located and the Art Institute of Chicago, and additional terra cotta and cast iron ornament fragments located in top-tier museums across of the globe. These are precious and would benefit from greater awareness, support, and protection.

Preservation Chicago specifically requested that the “Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room” and the terra-cotta “Chicago Stock Exchange Entry Arch” be included in this Chicago Landmark Designation.

Read more at CoStar News and the Chicago Sun-Times

• Decision on landmarking this Chicago skyscraper ignites preservation debate: Tower set for redevelopment replaced Louis Sullivan-designed building, Ryan Ori, CoStar News, 12/8/25
• Loop skyscraper that replaced Louis Sullivan masterpiece heads toward landmark protection; In an ironic twist, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks next month will weigh granting preliminary landmark status for 30 N. LaSalle St. for which Sullivan’s masterpiece was sacrificed. It could pave the way for converting the building to housing, Lee Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 11/28/25
• Opinion: Do we dare squander Chicago’s architectural heritage again? Eleanor Gorski Op-Ed, Crain’s Chicago Business, 12/5/25
• Loop tower that replaced historic Chicago Stock Exchange Building wins preliminary landmark status, The idea of landmarking the building at 30 N. LaSalle St. hit a sore spot with some preservationists (and this architecture critic), because the drab tower replaced a far superior structure, Lee Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 12/5/25
• Preliminary landmark and Class L approved for 30 N. LaSalle; The office tower will be renovated into 349 apartments and office space, Lukas Kugler, Urbanize Chicago, 12/9/25
• Golub, Corebridge seek second big tax break for LaSalle Street overhaul; Class L request adds $47M incentive atop $57M TIF for 30 N LaSalle conversion, The Read Deal, 12/2/25