Old Chicago Main Post Office
Old Chicago Main Post Office | |
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General information | |
Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Address | 433 West Van Buren Street |
Coordinates | 41°52′32″N 87°38′20″W / 41.875622°N 87.638769°W |
Opened | 1921 |
Renovated | 1932 |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Graham, Anderson, Probst & White |
Website | |
post433 |
The Old Chicago Main Post Office is a nine-story-tall building in downtown Chicago. The original building was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and built in 1921, but the structure was expanded greatly in 1932 in order to serve Chicago's great volume of postal business, swollen by the mail-order businesses of Montgomery Ward (the largest retailer in the United States) and of Sears (its competitor).
The Old Post Office is home to many
History
The original 1922 structure was a brick-sided mail terminal building, sited just east of the main building that spans the
A February 2006 report by the
Redevelopment plan, 2011–2014
Old Chicago Main Post Office Phase II | |
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General information | |
Status | Never built |
Type | Supertall skyscraper |
Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Address | West Ida B. Wells Drive and South Canal Street, 433 West Van Buren |
Country | United States |
Cost | $3.5 billion |
Height | |
Roof | 2,000 feet (610 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 9 |
Floor area | 16 million sq ft (1,500,000 m2) |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Booth Hansen |
Developer | International Property Developers |
References | |
[12] |
The Old Chicago Main Post Office Redevelopment was an approved 20-acre (81,000 m2) project on a lot located along the
- Phase 1: Converting the Post Office into a retail complex whose main entrance would be through the Beaux Arts-inspired lobby along Van Buren street, the remaining interior would become a parking garage, and a 40-story hotel on the east side of the building. (Approximate cost: $450 million)
- Phase 2: Building a 60-story hotel west of the Post Office and a 120-story, 2,000 ft (610 m) office, hotel, and residential tower that would be the tallest in North America. (Approximate cost: $2 billion)
- Phase 3: Two residential towers built on the east side of the Chicago River diagonally southeast from the proposed 120-story skyscraper plus a 12,000 space parking garage. (Approximate cost: $1 billion)
The whole $3.5 billion plan was submitted to the Chicago City Council and the Planning Commission for approval the same day it was released to the public. Only funding for Phase 1 had been secured as of July 21, 2011.[14][17] The proposal was sent to the Chicago City Commission in July 2011 for approval, which was expected to be a several-month process. The project had an estimated cost of $3.5 billion and the potential to create 12,000 jobs.[18] Some critics opposed the proposal, calling it old-fashioned and suburban and an unrealistic pipe dream, as it was largely car oriented (12,000 parking spaces and free parking) with shopping mall style retail.[19] The city voted and approved the plan July 18, 2013.[20]
In spring of 2013, Antunovich Associates, who purchased the site three years ago, created a new proposal on the site featuring a 1000-foot skyscraper (with a 2,000 foot tower in their 2nd phase). Other potential uses include a casino and/or entertainment complex.
After sitting vacant for nearly two decades, the building was bought in 2014 by English real estate developer Bill Davies for $24 million at auction.[27] Davies proposed an ambitious redevelopment plan that was never realized; on May 13, 2016, the building was sold by Davies, who died the next day.[28]
2016 sale and reconstruction
In February 2016, Chicago mayor
On May 13, 2016, completion of the sale from Davies to 601W was announced by Emanuel. Davies died the next day. Vicky Flores, who ran the Chicago office of Davies' firm, commented: "It was really weird, the timing. Everything was signed off, and then I heard he had died. It was like he waited until everything was taken care of." Freight announced it would be based at the site, adding 2,000 jobs.
After extensive renovations undergone by real-estate company 601W, the building opened to office tenants in October 2019.[32] In August 2019, Uber signed a 10-year lease to become the building's largest tenant, occupying 463,000 square feet (43,000 m2). Construction on the space to be utilized by Uber will begin in the spring of 2020.[33] The structure will also include new Chicago offices for Walgreens, occupying 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) and housing 1,800 employees.[34] PepsiCo will relocate its Chicago office of 1,300 employees and occupy 192,000 square feet (17,800 m2),[35] while the Ferrara Candy Company announced that it would relocate its headquarters to the Post Office building in 2019, occupying 77,000 square feet (7,200 m2) and bringing nearly 400 jobs.[36] The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago will also be a tenant.[37]
Tenants
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023) |
The Chicago Sun-Times, in 2022, had plans to open a facility there for newspaper and WBEZ operations. A total of 6,000 square feet (560 m2) of space under lease was to be used.[38]
As of 2022[update] other tenants include:[38]
In popular culture
The building was used in the filming of Batman Begins in 2004[citation needed], and The Dark Knight in April 2007.[39][40][41] The building is seen from above in the opening credits of Candyman. In the summer of 2010, Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay filmed numerous scenes for Transformers: Dark of the Moon in and around Chicago. The old Chicago Post Office's east facade was decorated as the "Department of Health and Human Services" where the Autobots were kept by the federal government in the movies. The same interior that was used for filming of the bank heist in The Dark Knight was used again for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. There were also some scattered shots from the Post Office interior used throughout the film.[42]
See also
References
- ^ "The Old Post Office: Best reuse of a historic building". Crain's Chicago Business. October 7, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
- ^ "SkyscraperPage Forum". Forum.skyscraperpage.com. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Day after selling city's Old Main Post Office, Bill Davies dies". Fox 32 / Sun-Times Media Wire. May 15, 2016.
- ^ "Publication 100 – The United States Postal Service An American History 1775-2006" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ "National Register of Historical Places – ILLINOIS (IL), Cook County". nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
- ^ "GAO-06-248T Federal Real Property: Excess and Underutilized Property Is an Ongoing Problem" (PDF). Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ "Let the bidding begin ..." Chicago Tribune. August 27, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ Lutz, Bj (August 27, 2009). "Why So Seriously Expensive?". NBC Chicago. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ Bartosik, Matt (September 10, 2009). "Post Office Buyer May Not Deliver". NBC Chicago. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ David Roeder. "High bidder defaults on deal to buy old Chicago Post Office". Chicago Sun-Times. October 14, 2009. Retrieved on October 15, 2009.
- ^ David Roeder. "Brit gets discount on old post office". Chicago Sun-Times. October 22, 2009. Retrieved on October 22, 2009.
- ^ Alby Gallun (July 21, 2011). "Skyscrapers, retail part of massive Old Post Office plan". ChicagoRealEstateDaily. Retrieved July 30, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Brian Louis (July 21, 2011). "Tallest U.S. Tower Proposed as Part of Chicago Development". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Alejandra Cancino, Blair Kamin (July 21, 2011). "Old Chicago post office redevelopment plan unveiled". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ Ben Meyerson (July 27, 2011). "Old post office plans include hotels, skyscrapers for Chicago". Chicago Journal. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ Don DeBat (July 27, 2011). "Towering old post office plan air mailed to Chicago". Chicago Journal. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
- ^ David Roeder (July 21, 2011). "Old Post Office figures in mega downtown expansion plan". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- WBEZ-FM. Archived from the originalon August 19, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ Blair Kamin (July 24, 2011). "Plan for old post office: A suburban throwback, and a pipe dream". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
- ^ "City to examine old post office rehab plan". Gazette Chicago. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
- ^ "Exclusive: What's in the works for Chicago's old post office?". WGN-TV. May 8, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
- ^ "Antunovich Associates /". antunovich.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
- ^ Ori, Ryan (June 18, 2014). "Old Main Post Office revamp gets a boost". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ Ori, Ryan (June 19, 2014). "Chicago's Old Main Post Office to be redeveloped". WLS-TV. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ Harris, Melissa and Bob Goldsborough (July 18, 2014). "Sterling Bay retools old buildings, reshapes neighborhoods". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ Ori, Ryan (December 4, 2014). "Subscription Center". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
- ^ Janssen, Kim (May 13, 2016). "Day after old post office deal done, longtime owner is dead". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ Janssen, Kim (May 17, 2016). "Owner of old main post office was dead when $130M sale closed". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ Brian J. Rogal (March 18, 2016). "601W Cos. Buys Old Post Office, But Questions Remain". GlobeSt.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
- Curbed Chicago.
- ^ Spielman, Fran (September 13, 2017). "What Chicago site might win Amazon 'HQ2' sweepstakes? Here are 6 . . ". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017.
- ^ Kamin, Blair (October 17, 2019). "Column: An exclusive look inside Chicago's Old Post Office as the nation's largest reuse project greets its first tenants this weekend". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ Marotti, Ally; Ori, Ryan (August 19, 2019). "Uber confirms it's moving to massive space in The Old Post Office". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ LaVito, Angelica (June 15, 2018). "Walgreens to move 1,800 jobs into new Chicago office". CNBC. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
- ^ Ori, Ryan (November 21, 2019). "PepsiCo's Chicago office to go from 17 floors to one, in move to ultrawide Old Post Office". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ Ori, Ryan (December 13, 2018). "Ferrara Candy confirms its headquarters will move to Chicago's Old Post Office". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- ^ Ori, Ryan (August 29, 2019). "The Old Post Office nears opening, adds Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago as office tenant". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ a b Roeder, David (June 29, 2022). "Sun-Times, WBEZ lease space in Old Post Office". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ [1] Archived June 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Chicago Entertainment News, Local Celeb Gossip | NBC Chicago". Nbc5.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ [2][dead link]
- ^ "Transformers Live Action Movie Blog: TF3 Chicago: More from Post Office Set". transformerslive.blogspot.com. September 12, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2016.