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Old Chicago Main Post Office

The Old Chicago Main Post Office is a nine-story-tall office building in downtown Chicago. The building was designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White and built in 1921. The structure of the building was expanded greatly in 1932 in order to serve Chicago's great volume of postal business, increased significantly by the mail-order businesses of Montgomery Ward (the largest retailer in the United States) and of Sears (its competitor). In 1997, the post office moved to a modern processing center nearby and the building was sold by the U.S. Postal Service for redevelopment in 2007.

Old Chicago Main Post Office
Old Main Post Office over Ida B. Wells Drive
Map
General information
LocationChicago, Illinois
Address433 West Van Buren Street
Coordinates41°52′32″N 87°38′20″W / 41.875622°N 87.638769°W / 41.875622; -87.638769
Opened1921; 103 years ago (1921)
Renovated1932; 92 years ago (1932)
Design and construction
Architecture firmGraham, Anderson, Probst & White
Website
post433.com

After an extensive restoration project, the Old Post Office became home to many corporate offices including Walgreens, Ferrara Candy Company, PepsiCo, Cisco Systems, Uber, CBOE, Home Chef, Vizient, Inc., and more.[1]

History

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A postcard commemorating the expanded Chicago Post Office dedication, February 15, 1933
 
Interstate 90 passing through the building, 1969
 
Aerial view of Chicago with The Old Chicago Main Post Office visible in the bottom right

The original 1922 structure was a brick-sided mail terminal building, sited just east of the main building that spans the Eisenhower Expressway as it turns into Ida B. Wells Drive. Major expansion in 1932 added a total of nine floors for more than 60 acres (24 ha), or 2.5 million square feet (230,000 m²), of floorspace. Its footprint, as initially designed, would have blocked the proposed Congress Parkway extension; as a compromise, a hole for the Parkway was reserved in the base of the Post Office and utilized twenty years later.[2] Competitors Montgomery Ward and Sears combined to make Chicago "the nation's mail-order capital".[3] (Montgomery Ward, which became the largest retailer in the United States in the late 1930s, was eventually passed by Sears, and then was purchased and merged.) In 1966, the Main Chicago Post Office came to a halt when a logjam of 10 million pieces of mail clogged the system for nearly a week.[4] With Chicago rated worst in postal deliveries, a new Main Post Office to be located right across Harrison Street was proposed. In 1997, the old building was vacated in favor of the new, modernized facility. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.[5]

A February 2006 report by the General Accounting Office stated, that it cost the government $2 million a year to maintain the retired building.[6] On June 9, 2009, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the postal service was placing the post office on the auction block. Held on August 27 and conducted by Rick Levin & Associates Inc., the auction raised $40 million, which was well over the opening bid of $300,000.[7][8] The buyer was reported to be English real estate developer Bill Davies.[9][10] While Davies missed an October 10, 2009 deadline to close the deal, he finally acquired the building on October 21, 2009, paying about $17 million.[11]

Redevelopment plan, 2011–2014

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Main article: Old Chicago Main Post Office Twin Towers
Old Chicago Main Post Office Phase II
 
General information
StatusNever built
TypeSupertall skyscraper
LocationChicago, Illinois
AddressWest Ida B. Wells Drive and South Canal Street, 433 West Van Buren
CountryUnited States
Cost$3.5 billion
Height
Roof2,000 feet (610 m)
Technical details
Floor count9
Floor area16 million sq ft (1,500,000 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Booth Hansen
DeveloperInternational 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 Chicago River on the southwest side of Downtown Chicago, Illinois to be constructed in phases over a period of one decade that would have included the renovation of the building as well as residential, retail, entertainment and office space. The plan included several towers, the tallest one being a proposed 120-story mixed use twin tower skyscraper to stand about 2,000 feet (610 m) high to the roof, which would have made it the tallest building in the United States,[13] over 500 feet (150 m) taller than the Willis Tower, containing office, residential, and hotel space. It would also have included two 60-story residential towers as well as a 40-story hotel.[14] All the buildings in the development were to be connected via a ground-level complex[15] that would have been built over the Chicago River and the Eisenhower Expressway.[16] More specifically, it was exactly one year and nine months after acquiring the post office property from the Postal Service when Davies unveiled his plan for the Post Office on July 21, 2011. The proposal, which involved three other properties besides the 14-story Post Office, was broken down into three phases pending the required $3.5 billion in funding:

  • 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.[21][22] On June 18, 2014, Bill Davies announced the formation of a $500 million joint venture with Sterling Bay Companies for phase I of the redevelopment.[23][24] On July 18, Sterling announced a new relationship with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which gave them access to new financial resources.[25] However, Davies never found sufficient financing.[3] In December 2014, Davies canceled the project and put the post office building up for sale.[26]

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

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Interior in 2019

In February 2016, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel pressed for development of the site, threatening to take possession of the building by use of eminent domain. In March, the city's Department of Planning and Development issued an RFP seeking bids due June 10 for redevelopment of the site. Later that week, with announcement of a conditional sale of the building, it turned out that Davies had been in negotiation since May 2015 for sale of the building to 601W, a New York City-based real estate company which owns Chicago's Aon Center and One Prudential Plaza buildings.[29]

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."[3] In a $500 million renovation,[3] Gensler plans on renovation of the space into office space, with addition of a rooftop park and a riverwalk.[30] In September 2017 the post office was one of 6 sites in Chicago considered for the new Amazon "HQ2" location.[31] In September 2019, Uber 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 was scheduled to 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

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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 other tenants include:[38]

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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

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References

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  1. ^ "The Old Post Office: Best reuse of a historic building". Crain's Chicago Business. October 7, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  2. ^ "SkyscraperPage Forum". Forum.skyscraperpage.com. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "National Register of Historical Places – ILLINOIS (IL), Cook County". nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  6. ^ "GAO-06-248T Federal Real Property: Excess and Underutilized Property Is an Ongoing Problem" (PDF). Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  7. ^ "Let the bidding begin ..." Chicago Tribune. August 27, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  8. ^ Lutz, Bj (August 27, 2009). "Why So Seriously Expensive?". NBC Chicago. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  9. ^ Bartosik, Matt (September 10, 2009). "Post Office Buyer May Not Deliver". NBC Chicago. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  10. ^ David Roeder. "High bidder defaults on deal to buy old Chicago Post Office". Chicago Sun-Times. October 14, 2009. Retrieved on October 15, 2009.
  11. ^ David Roeder. "Brit gets discount on old post office". Chicago Sun-Times. October 22, 2009. Retrieved on October 22, 2009.
  12. ^ Alby Gallun (July 21, 2011). "Skyscrapers, retail part of massive Old Post Office plan". ChicagoRealEstateDaily. Retrieved July 30, 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ Brian Louis (July 21, 2011). "Tallest U.S. Tower Proposed as Part of Chicago Development". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  14. ^ a b Alejandra Cancino, Blair Kamin (July 21, 2011). "Old Chicago post office redevelopment plan unveiled". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ David Roeder (July 21, 2011). "Old Post Office figures in mega downtown expansion plan". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  18. ^ Kate Springer, Susie An (July 22, 2011). "Big plans for the old Chicago post office". WBEZ-FM. Archived from the original on August 19, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  19. ^ Blair Kamin (July 24, 2011). "Plan for old post office: A suburban throwback, and a pipe dream". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  20. ^ "City to examine old post office rehab plan". Gazette Chicago. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  21. ^ "Exclusive: What's in the works for Chicago's old post office?". WGN-TV. May 8, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  22. ^ "Antunovich Associates /". antunovich.com. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  23. ^ Ori, Ryan (June 18, 2014). "Old Main Post Office revamp gets a boost". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  24. ^ Ori, Ryan (June 19, 2014). "Chicago's Old Main Post Office to be redeveloped". WLS-TV. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  25. ^ Harris, Melissa and Bob Goldsborough (July 18, 2014). "Sterling Bay retools old buildings, reshapes neighborhoods". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  26. ^ Ori, Ryan (December 4, 2014). "Subscription Center". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  27. ^ Janssen, Kim (May 13, 2016). "Day after old post office deal done, longtime owner is dead". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  28. ^ Janssen, Kim (May 17, 2016). "Owner of old main post office was dead when $130M sale closed". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  29. ^ Brian J. Rogal (March 18, 2016). "601W Cos. Buys Old Post Office, But Questions Remain". GlobeSt.com. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  30. ^ Jay Koziarz (May 13, 2016). "Chicago's Old Post Office Sold to 601W Companies". Curbed Chicago.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ 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.
  33. ^ 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.
  34. ^ LaVito, Angelica (June 15, 2018). "Walgreens to move 1,800 jobs into new Chicago office". CNBC. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  35. ^ 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.
  36. ^ Ori, Ryan (December 13, 2018). "Ferrara Candy confirms its headquarters will move to Chicago's Old Post Office". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  37. ^ 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.
  38. ^ a b Roeder, David (June 29, 2022). "Sun-Times, WBEZ lease space in Old Post Office". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  39. ^ [1] Archived June 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  40. ^ "Chicago Entertainment News, Local Celeb Gossip | NBC Chicago". Nbc5.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  41. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  42. ^ "Transformers Live Action Movie Blog: TF3 Chicago: More from Post Office Set". transformerslive.blogspot.com. September 12, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
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