Latest news with #LaSalleStreetReimagined
Axios
08-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Chicago Board of Trade Building Museum opens to help LaSalle Street revival
The founders of the Chicago Board of Trade Building Museum hope the new attraction helps revitalize the financial district. What to expect: The free museum on the first floor of the iconic Art Deco Board of Trade Building on LaSalle and Jackson celebrates the history of the CBOT, from an instructive video of traders' ferocious hand signaling to a phone that plays memories of the men (and at least one woman) who ruled the pits. Between the lines: The financial district has changed greatly since CBOT opened in the late 19th century, especially after 2020 as work-from-home policies keep workers off LaSalle several days a week, and development has moved to other parts of the city. Even before the pandemic, the Board of Trade was heavily impacted by the transition to online trading and closure of the physical trading pits a decade ago. The intrigue: Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced LaSalle Street Reimagined in 2022. Earlier this year, developers broke ground on 79 W. Monroe, an office-to-apartment conversion. Chicago's Department of Planning and Development awarded museum founders R2 Companies, the real estate firm that manages the CBOT building, $250,000 for the museum as part of an effort to revitalize empty spaces in the Loop. What they're saying: "It's no secret that every city in the world's got to rethink their central business district and part of doing that is not just places to live, work, eat and shop, but you have some activities to do," Ald. Bill Conway tells Axios. "This is an iconic building, and an important part of the birth and backbone of our economy and capitalism globally. So having a museum that commemorates that, I think will be very interesting to people from around the world." State of play: Conway, whose ward includes the CBOT, says the museum is a sign of the area's growing arts and culture scene, which already gets regular visitors on the city's architecture tours.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
City commission approves $67 million in TIF funds for massive Central Loop renovation
The largest project envisioned so far for the LaSalle Street Reimagined program took a step closer to reality Tuesday when the Community Development Commission recommended that City Council approve it. Council approval would unlock $67 million in tax increment financing funds for redevelopment of the historic Clark Adams Building, a 41-story tower at 105 W. Adams St. just east of LaSalle Street in the Central Loop. The funds will help its development team transform dozens of vacant floors into hundreds of new apartments, including 121 reserved as affordable. The LaSalle Reimagined project was launched by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and is now a top priority of Mayor Brandon Johnson. The program aims to transform aging LaSalle Street office buildings into a new Loop neighborhood, eventually with more than 1,000 residences, shops, restaurants and other amenities. Historic preservationists have cheered efforts to save the nearly 100-year-old Clark Adams building, which like many Central Loop office buildings suffered from a high vacancy rate as tenants moved into more modern towers in the West Loop and Fulton Market. 'We consider the adaptive reuse of the historic buildings into residential housing and residential affordable housing to be a best practice,' Preservation Chicago said in a statement. 'Additionally, we'd encourage decision-makers to pursue Chicago Landmark Designation for this significant Art Deco skyscraper.' A development team led by Chicago-based Primera Group, a minority-owned development and consulting company, purchased 105 W. Adams St. late last year after a previous plan by other developers fell through. The company's $183 million redevelopment effort will add 400 residences on floors 11 through 40, including a mix of studios, and one- and two-bedroom units. The team plans to replace the old windows, clean the three street-facing facades and possibly repoint and replace some of the historic terra cotta material. Amenities will be added to the 24th floor, and the restored building may also include walk-out terraces and other green spaces on the 23rd. In addition to the tax increment financing, the developers plan to raise more than $23 million through historic tax credits, with the rest coming from a mix of loans and private investment. The developers said they could begin construction by January 2026, assuming the project receives City Council approval, and complete it by June 2027.
Chicago Tribune
13-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
City commission approves $67 million in TIF funds for massive Central Loop renovation
The largest project envisioned so far for the LaSalle Street Reimagined program took a step closer to reality Tuesday when the Community Development Commission recommended that City Council approve it. Council approval would unlock $67 million in tax increment financing funds for redevelopment of the historic Clark Adams Building, a 41-story tower at 105 W. Adams St. just east of LaSalle Street in the Central Loop. The funds will help its development team transform dozens of vacant floors into hundreds of new apartments, including 121 reserved as affordable. The LaSalle Reimagined project was launched by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and is now a top priority of Mayor Brandon Johnson. The program aims to transform aging LaSalle Street office buildings into a new Loop neighborhood, eventually with more than 1,000 residences, shops, restaurants and other amenities. Historic preservationists have cheered efforts to save the nearly 100-year-old Clark Adams building, which like many Central Loop office buildings suffered from a high vacancy rate as tenants moved into more modern towers in the West Loop and Fulton Market. 'We consider the adaptive reuse of the historic buildings into residential housing and residential affordable housing to be a best practice,' Preservation Chicago said in a statement. 'Additionally, we'd encourage decision-makers to pursue Chicago Landmark Designation for this significant Art Deco skyscraper.' A development team led by Chicago-based Primera Group, a minority-owned development and consulting company, purchased 105 W. Adams St. late last year after a previous plan by other developers fell through. The company's $183 million redevelopment effort will add 400 residences on floors 11 through 40, including a mix of studios, and one- and two-bedroom units. The team plans to replace the old windows, clean the three street-facing facades and possibly repoint and replace some of the historic terra cotta material. Amenities will be added to the 24th floor, and the restored building may also include walk-out terraces and other green spaces on the 23rd. In addition to the tax increment financing, the developers plan to raise more than $23 million through historic tax credits, with the rest coming from a mix of loans and private investment. The developers said they could begin construction by January 2026, assuming the project receives City Council approval, and complete it by June 2027.
