Old Chicago Main Post Office

File:161, The New Chicago Post Office, dedicated February 15, 1933 (NBY 417398).jpg

File:IL 62 I90 NARA 1969 664.jpg

File:Chicago viewed from the Willis Tower in 2010.jpg

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 {{convert|60|acre}}, 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.{{cite web|url=http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=128596&page=11 |title=SkyscraperPage Forum |publisher=Forum.skyscraperpage.com |access-date=July 10, 2010}} Competitors Montgomery Ward and Sears combined to make Chicago "the nation's mail-order capital". (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.{{cite web |url=http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub100.pdf |title=Publication 100 – The United States Postal Service An American History 1775-2006 |access-date=July 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508205717/http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub100.pdf |archive-date=May 8, 2009 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/IL/Cook/state10.html|title=National Register of Historical Places – ILLINOIS (IL), Cook County|work=nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com|access-date=December 13, 2016}}

A February 2006 report by the General Accounting Office stated, that it cost the government $2 million a year to maintain the retired building.{{cite web|url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06248t.pdf |title=GAO-06-248T Federal Real Property: Excess and Underutilized Property Is an Ongoing Problem |access-date=July 10, 2010}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-old-chicago-post-office-40-million-aug27,0,6687261.story |title=Let the bidding begin ... |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=August 27, 2009 |access-date=July 10, 2010}}{{cite web|last=Lutz |first=Bj |url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/old-post-office-sold-auction-55426112.html |title=Why So Seriously Expensive? |date=August 27, 2009 |publisher=NBC Chicago |access-date=July 10, 2010}} The buyer was reported to be English real estate developer Bill Davies.{{cite web|last=Bartosik |first=Matt |url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Post-Office-Buyer-May-Not-Deliver-58048172.html |title=Post Office Buyer May Not Deliver |publisher=NBC Chicago |date=September 10, 2009 |access-date=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. 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.David Roeder. "Brit gets discount on old post office". Chicago Sun-Times. October 22, 2009. Retrieved on October 22, 2009.

{{anchor|2011 redevelopment}}

{{Main|Old Chicago Main Post Office Twin Towers}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Old Chicago Main Post Office Phase II

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| location = Chicago, Illinois

| address = West Ida B. Wells Drive and South Canal Street,

433 West Van Buren

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| architect = Booth Hansen

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| references = {{cite web|url=http://chicagorealestatedaily.com/index.php?CALL_URL=http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/article/20110721/CRED03/110729952|title=Skyscrapers, retail part of massive Old Post Office plan|author=Alby Gallun|date=July 21, 2011|publisher=ChicagoRealEstateDaily|access-date=July 30, 2011}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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The Old Chicago Main Post Office Redevelopment was an approved {{convert|20|acre|m2|adj=on}} 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 {{convert|2000|ft|m}} high to the roof, which would have made it the tallest building in the United States,{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-21/tallest-u-s-tower-proposed-as-part-of-3-5-billion-development-in-chicago.html|title=Tallest U.S. Tower Proposed as Part of Chicago Development|author=Brian Louis|publisher=Bloomberg News|date=July 21, 2011|access-date=July 30, 2011}} over {{convert|500|ft|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. All the buildings in the development were to be connected via a ground-level complex{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagojournal.com/News/07-27-2011/Old_post_office_plans_include_hotels,_skyscrapers_for_Chicago|title=Old post office plans include hotels, skyscrapers for Chicago|author=Ben Meyerson|date=July 27, 2011|work=Chicago Journal|access-date=July 30, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927181546/http://www.chicagojournal.com/News/07-27-2011/Old_post_office_plans_include_hotels,_skyscrapers_for_Chicago|archive-date=September 27, 2011}} that would have been built over the Chicago River and the Eisenhower Expressway.{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagojournal.com/News/07-27-2011/Towering_old_post_office_plan_air_mailed_to_Chicago|title=Towering old post office plan air mailed to Chicago|author=Don DeBat|work=Chicago Journal|date=July 27, 2011|access-date=July 31, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927181558/http://www.chicagojournal.com/News/07-27-2011/Towering_old_post_office_plan_air_mailed_to_Chicago|archive-date=September 27, 2011}} 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, {{convert|2000|ft|m|abbr=on}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-old-chicago-post-office-redevelopment-plan-unveiled-20110721,0,3150609.story|title=Old Chicago post office redevelopment plan unveiled|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=July 21, 2011|author=Alejandra Cancino, Blair Kamin|access-date=July 30, 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://www.suntimes.com/6632391-417/old-post-office-figures-in-mega-downtown-expansion-plan.html|title=Old Post Office figures in mega downtown expansion plan|author=David Roeder|date=July 21, 2011|publisher=Chicago Sun-Times|access-date=July 30, 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://m.wbez.org/story/big-plans-old-chicago-post-office-89493|title=Big plans for the old Chicago post office|author=Kate Springer, Susie An|publisher=WBEZ-FM|date=July 22, 2011|access-date=July 30, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819045844/http://m.wbez.org/story/big-plans-old-chicago-post-office-89493|archive-date=August 19, 2011}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2011/07/24/plan-for-old-post-office-a-suburban-throwback-and-a-pipe-dream/|title=Plan for old post office: A suburban throwback, and a pipe dream|author=Blair Kamin|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=July 24, 2011|access-date=July 30, 2011}} The city voted and approved the plan July 18, 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/2013/07/city-to-examine-old-post-office-rehab-plan/|work=Gazette Chicago |title=City to examine old post office rehab plan|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=March 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314224833/http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/2013/07/city-to-examine-old-post-office-rehab-plan/|url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://wgntv.com/2013/05/08/exclusive-whats-in-the-works-for-chicagos-old-post-office/|title=Exclusive: What's in the works for Chicago's old post office?|publisher=WGN-TV|date=May 8, 2013|access-date=December 13, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.antunovich.com/projects/CPO/index.html|title=Antunovich Associates /|work=antunovich.com|access-date=December 13, 2016}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20140618/CRED03/140619788/old-main-post-office-revamp-gets-a-boost|title=Old Main Post Office revamp gets a boost|access-date=September 16, 2014|date=June 18, 2014|work=Crain's Chicago Business|author=Ori, Ryan}}{{cite web|url=http://abc7chicago.com/business/chicagos-old-main-post-office-to-be-redeveloped/124820/|title=Chicago's Old Main Post Office to be redeveloped|access-date=September 16, 2014|date=June 19, 2014|publisher=WLS-TV|author=Ori, Ryan}} On July 18, Sterling announced a new relationship with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which gave them access to new financial resources.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-sterling-bay-0720-biz-20140720-story.html#page=1|title=Sterling Bay retools old buildings, reshapes neighborhoods|access-date=September 16, 2014|date=July 18, 2014|work=Chicago Tribune|author=Harris, Melissa and Bob Goldsborough}} However, Davies never found sufficient financing. In December 2014, Davies canceled the project and put the post office building up for sale.{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20141204/CRED03/141209875/old-main-post-office-put-up-for-sale|title=Subscription Center |last=Ori|first=Ryan|date=December 4, 2014|work=Crain's Chicago Business|access-date=January 30, 2015}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-bill-davies-post-office-0514-biz-20160513-story.html|title=Day after old post office deal done, longtime owner is dead|last=Janssen|first=Kim|date=13 May 2016|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=22 January 2020}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-bill-davies-post-office-death-0518-biz-20160517-story.html|last=Janssen|first=Kim|date=17 May 2016|title=Owner of old main post office was dead when $130M sale closed|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=29 August 2019}}

File:Chicago's Old Main Post Office interior.jpg

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.{{cite news|title=601W Cos. Buys Old Post Office, But Questions Remain |date=March 18, 2016 |author=Brian J. Rogal |publisher=GlobeSt.com |access-date=May 15, 2016 |url=http://www.globest.com/sites/brianjrogal/2016/03/18/601w-cos-buys-old-post-office-but-questions-remain/}}

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."{{cite news|title=Day after selling city's Old Main Post Office, Bill Davies dies |url=http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/local/141687469-story |date=May 15, 2016 |publisher=Fox 32 / Sun-Times Media Wire}} In a $500 million renovation, Gensler plans on renovation of the space into office space, with addition of a rooftop park and a riverwalk.{{cite news|title=Chicago's Old Post Office Sold to 601W Companies |author=Jay Koziarz |date=May 13, 2016 |work=Curbed Chicago |url=http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/5/13/11671350/chicagos-old-post-office-sold-601w-companies}} In September 2017 the post office was one of 6 sites in Chicago considered for the new Amazon "HQ2" location.{{cite news|first=Fran|last=Spielman|title=What Chicago site might win Amazon 'HQ2' sweepstakes? Here are 6 . . .|date=Sep 13, 2017|website=Chicago Sun-Times|url=http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/what-chicago-site-might-win-amazon-hq2-sweepstakes-heres-six/|archive-date=September 14, 2017|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170914130031/http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/what-chicago-site-might-win-amazon-hq2-sweepstakes-heres-six/|url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/blair-kamin/ct-biz-old-post-office-review-kamin-20191017-5ajfrnv7ajck7geppzlbnt6tx4-story.html|title=Column: An exclusive look inside Chicago's Old Post Office as the nation's largest reuse project greets its first tenants this weekend|last=Kamin|first=Blair|date=17 October 2019|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=22 January 2020}} In August 2019, Uber signed a 10-year lease to become the building's largest tenant, occupying {{convert|463000|sqft}}. Construction on the space to be utilized by Uber was scheduled to begin in the spring of 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-uber-confirms-post-office-lease-20190819-yecm5ie5cjhuheyso2ybnyfwg4-story.html|last1=Marotti|first1=Ally|last2=Ori |first2=Ryan|date=August 19, 2019|title=Uber confirms it's moving to massive space in The Old Post Office|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 29, 2019}} The structure will also include new Chicago offices for Walgreens, occupying {{convert|200000|sqft}} and housing 1,800 employees.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/15/walgreens-to-move-1800-jobs-into-new-chicago-office.html|last=LaVito|first=Angelica|title=Walgreens to move 1,800 jobs into new Chicago office|date=June 15, 2018|website=CNBC|access-date=July 6, 2018}} PepsiCo will relocate its Chicago office of 1,300 employees and occupy {{convert|192000|sqft}},{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/ryan-ori/ct-biz-pepsico-old-post-office-ryan-ori-20191121-edgucwyyufe55edj7webgshclq-story.html|title=PepsiCo's Chicago office to go from 17 floors to one, in move to ultrawide Old Post Office|last=Ori|first=Ryan|date=21 November 2019|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=22 January 2020}} while the Ferrara Candy Company announced that it would relocate its headquarters to the Post Office building in 2019, occupying {{convert|77000|sqft}} and bringing nearly 400 jobs.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-ferrara-candy-headquarters-chicago-20181213-story.html|last=Ori|first=Ryan|title=Ferrara Candy confirms its headquarters will move to Chicago's Old Post Office|date=December 13, 2018|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=December 17, 2018}} The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago will also be a tenant.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/ryan-ori/ct-biz-old-post-office-bank-lease-ryan-ori-20190829-dhaug42lyrdvlak2meoq2ylijq-story.html|last=Ori|first=Ryan|date=August 29, 2019|title=The Old Post Office nears opening, adds Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago as office tenant|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 29, 2019}}

{{expand section|date=December 2023}}

The Chicago Sun-Times, in 2022, had plans to open a facility there for newspaper and WBEZ operations. A total of {{convert|6000|sqft|sqm}} of space under lease was to be used.{{cite web|last=Roeder|first=David|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2022/6/29/23188205/sun-times-wbez-lease-office-space-old-post-office|title=Sun-Times, WBEZ lease space in Old Post Office|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=2022-06-29|access-date=2023-12-26}}

{{Asof|2022}} other tenants include:

• Cboe Global Markets
• Cisco
• Ferrara Candy Company
• PepsiCo
• Uber
• Walgreens
• Milwaukee Tool

The building was used in the filming of Batman Begins in 2004{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}, and The Dark Knight in April 2007.[http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_108134225.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621065134/http://cbs2chicago.com/local/local_story_108134225.html|date=June 21, 2007}}{{cite web |url=http://www.nbc5.com/entertainment/12403161/detail.html?dl=headlineclick |title=Chicago Entertainment News, Local Celeb Gossip | NBC Chicago |publisher=Nbc5.com |access-date=July 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015185202/http://nbc5.com/entertainment/12403161/detail.html?dl=headlineclick |archive-date=October 15, 2007 |url-status=dead }}[http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/365570.php?contentType=4&contentId=421511]{{dead link|date=December 2016}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2010/09/tf3-chicago-more-from-post-office-set.html|title=Transformers Live Action Movie Blog: TF3 Chicago: More from Post Office Set|date=September 12, 2010|work=transformerslive.blogspot.com|access-date=December 13, 2016}}

• List of United States post offices

{{reflist|35em}}

{{commons category|Old Chicago Main Post Office}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121024024336/http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=117250 U.S. Post Office, Chicago]}} at Emporis
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=BCgDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1931+plane&pg=PA29 "Biggest Post Office To Be Built In Chicago", August 1931, Popular Science]

{{Chicago}}

{{Supertall proposed skyscrapers}}

Category:Chicago Landmarks

Category:Government buildings completed in 1921

Category:Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago

Category:Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois

Category:Proposed skyscrapers in the United States

Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago

Category:1921 establishments in Illinois