Battle in the Sky Brings History Back to the Hancock

What once was old is new again.  The more years I gain, the more I see that things are cyclical.  But I didn't see this coming.

The seemingly friendly Battle of the Observation Decks being waged between the Sears Willis Tower (233 South Wacker Drive), and the John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue) has seen both sides dip into the old bag of tricks to bring in new customers.

The first shot was fired in July of last year when Willis opened "The Ledge."  If you haven't been to Skydeck Chicago (the current name for what used to be the Sears Skydeck) in a while, this is alone worth the price of admission.  Check out our previous piece on The Ledge for pictures and video.

While The Ledge is all high-tech glass, and physics calculations, and safety regulations, what it does is simulate the experience of hanging off the edge of a skyscraper.  To the majority of people in the 21st century, this is a novelty.  But it's not all that novel.

Hanging out on steel beams is a very late-19th and early-20th century thing to do.  Think back to black-and-white Looney Tunes, or those iconic photographs of construction workers just sort of sitting there, having lunch, perched on a girder hundreds of feet above the street below, without a care in the world.  The same lower-belly giddiness we experience looking at those photos is the same feeling we get to experience first-hand and intensified by visiting The Ledge.

The old thrills are new again.  Except you don't have to be a construction worker to experience it.  You can just pay your $15, close your eyes, and take one giant step into the air.

A year later, it's time for the Hancock Center to return fire.

Last week, newspapers around the world lit up with news about Big John's newest attraction, Skating in the Sky.

The idea is that there will be a skating rink on the 94th floor of the building.  That puts it 1,000 feet over North Michigan Avenue.  But it's not actual ice; it's a slippery synthetic substance that's being used.  Adolescent fantasies about crashing through the glass aside, skating at the Hancock is nothing new.

In fact, shortly after the John Hancock Center first opened, it had a real ice skating rink in the sunken plaza right in front of the building.  The plaza is a public amenity, required to get the zoning permits needed to build such a huge tower in what was then a low-rise area.

Reports of the day indicate that the skating rink was popular, and attracted crowds similar to those that now spin themselves into frigid dizziness at the McCormick-Tribune ice skating rink at Millennium Park.  But it didn't last.  It opened in the winter of 1971, and the following year, instead of ice it was covered with Christmas trees as a safety precaution because it was feared that winds whipped up by the Hancock Center would hurl debris from nearby construction projects at the helpless skaters.  By the winter of 1973, the ice was replaced by crushed rock and planters.  Skating at the Hancock faded from Chicago's collective memory shortly thereafter.

Interestingly, during the same time period there was another ice skating rink nearby at Lake Shore Park that is also gone.  People who have lived in the area far longer than me say the city used to be lousy with ice skating rinks, and nearly everyone enjoyed the sport from families to dating couples to loners and gangs of teen-agers.  But as the city's tastes matured and more and more people sought refuge in warm apartments with television sets to tick away the dark winters, the neighborhood skating rinks became fewer and fewer.

With any luck, the new rink at Millennium Park, plus the new fake skate at the Hancock Center will trigger a resurgence of good, wholesome, outdoor winter activity.  Lord knows Chicago's children could use a little less time playing virtual snowboarder on the Xbox, and more time learning how use their muscles to balance on some blades in a nearby park.

Slice of Life: Skyscraper Sunrise

The sun peeks out over Lake Michigan and illuminates the skyscraper forest of Chicago on an early morning.  From this vantage point, several buildings clearly stand head and shoulders above the rest:

• Trump International Hotel and Tower (401 North Wabash Street)
• Willis Tower (233 South Wacker Drive)
• 300 North LaSalle (300 North LaSalle Drive)
• The Park Tower (800 North Michigan Avenue)

Why no 100-story John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue) in the photograph?  Because it was taken from the John Hancock Center.

Pix: How Chicago Skyscrapers Marked Earth Hour

Last night, many places around the world dimmed their lights to mark Earth Hour, an even organized by the World Wildlife Fund.  I've posted a few photos below.  Last year, participation by Chicago buildings was spotty.  This year was better, though there were still a few hold-outs.

Among those I could see going dark:

• Navy Pier, except for its ferris wheel still blazing into the night (600 East Grand Avenue)
• The John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue)
• Willis Tower (233 South Wacker Drive)
• Aon Center (200 East Randolph Street)
• Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile (540 North Michigan Avenue)
• The Park Tower (800 North Michigan Avenue)
• Grand Plaza (540 North State Street)
• 55 East Erie (55 East Erie Street)
• NBC Tower (200 East Illinois Street)
• Chase Tower (10 South Dearborn Street)
• The Clare at Water Tower (55 East Pearson Street)

I assume that the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower participated because they participate in most everything.

The Marriott always has trouble with its sign, so it ended up darkening some of the letters early in the evening (spelling out "Mot").

Trump International Hotel and Tower was also dark, but not for the occasion.  In spite of what the Chicago Tribune reported, it does not light up at night at all, so this was one of the few occasions when it actually looked appropriate in the night skyline.

Some buildings didn't join in:  

• Millennium Centre (33 West Ontario Street)
• 300 North LaSalle (300 North LaSalle Drive)
• 353 North Clark (353 North Clark Street)
• The Hyatt Regency Chicago (151 East Wacker Drive)
• Museum Park (1215 South Prairie Avenue)
• The Fordham (25 East Superior Street)
• Millennium Park (337 East Randolph Street)

As you can see in the photos below, 300 and 353, and the Hyatt are the brightest things in the Chicago skyline, and conspicuous for their illumination when all of their neighbors have gone dark. As always, you can click to enlarge the pictures and see the offenders.

Slice of Life: Rats and Rust

The Willis Tower peeks through the rusty superstructure of a Norfolk South railroad bridge.  Someone has helpfully spray painted a warning that there are rats nearby.  Or not.

Slice of Life: Going Down

There aren't many places in the world where the elevators stops on 103 on the way down.  Though Chicago has been surpassed by buildings in the Middle East and Asia, we should still be proud of this feat, accomplished half a century before the rest of the world.

The Ledge at Sears/Willis Tower Opens to the Public

It's not often that a new tourist attraction opens that is guaranteed to be seen by millions of people each year.  Such Chicago gimmies as Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, and the Shedd Aquarium have all had their naysayers who predicted that no one would care and no one would ever see them.

This time it's different.  The new glass ledges installed in the facade of Chicago's tallest building are guaranteed to be an attraction.  That's because the observation deck that is their home is already one of the largest tourist attractions in the Midwest.

The Skydeck Ledge, as the four glass pods are collectively known, fulfill something that's always been something of a half-joke / half-wish among Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) visitors: to see the building from the outside.  Even Ferris Beuler and his friends once stood with their heads against the glass.  That glass is no longer a barrier.

Now it is actually possible to step beyond the building's curtain wall and look left, right, up, back, and most terrifyingly -- down 1,353 to South Wacker Drive below.

It really is a fascinating and unique experience.  It's nothing at all like other glass floors I've been at places like the CN Tower in Toronto, or The 63 Building in Seoul.  This isn't just a piece of plexiglass popped into a hole in the steel.  This is actual white glass hovering outside of the building's main structure.

The glass is crystal clear and even though it's tempered, it lacks most of the greenish tint you're used to seeing in tables and other furniture made with similar material.  Unlike pretty much every other "glass" floor in skyscrapers around the world, this one is actually glass, not plastic that gets scratched and scuffed so much that it's hard to tell what you're looking at.  The floor of each of the four pods has an additional layer of "sacrificial glass" on it to absorb the scuffs, dings, chips, and dirt that come from millions of yearly tourists.  When this layer gets sufficiently scratched, it can be removed and replaced, thus preserving the view.  It's a far superior solution than is used on the glass walkway over the Grand Canyon.  There, people are required to don little fabric booties to keep from scratching the bridge.  The designers of The Ledge decided doing the same thing in Chicago would detract from the magic of the experience.

The way the pods seem to hover in mid-air is certainly magical, but "hover" is probably not the right word. "Hang" is better, because that's what they do.  Each of the pods is a five-sided box hanging from a steel truss projecting from the ceiling out into free air.  There is no reassuringly supportive steel frame to look at while taking in the views of the city below.  That's all done above you, and in a way that you hardly notice it, until you're safely back inside.

Once safely back in Skydeck Chicago (formerly known as the Sears Skydeck), you can see the mechanical system in the ceiling.  It allows the pods to be smoothly retracted back into the building for cleaning and maintenance.  The mechanism is similar to ones used to move sets around at plays, so it's able to move very heavy objects with precision.

And the pods are heavy.  Each of the sides is formed from three layers of glass bonded together.  They are designed to hold at least 10,000 pounds.  But even though they're mostly glass, the ledges are incredibly strong.  In early testing done on the 103rd floor, the glass was deliberately broken.  But the bonding material was enough to maintain the structural integrity of the pod and support its load.

A few notes:

• The ledges are on the west side of the building because that's the only side that goes all the way down to ground level uninterrupted by setbacks.
• The ledges extend four feet, four inches from the building's facade.
• The ledges were designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; the same architecture firm that designed the building.
• The glass and metal engineer was MTH Industries, the same company that brought Cloud Gate to life.  Halcrow Yolles was the structural engineer, and Berglund Construction was the general contractor.

Q: How many news reporters and photographers can you fit in a ledge? 

A: All of them!

The Ledge: Official Press Release

Here's the official press release and official photos of the Skydeck Ledge.  Our review of the attraction will be published tomorrow morning.  All photos in this post are courtesy of Skydeck Chicago.

Skydeck Chicago’s The Ledge Now Daring Visitors to Stand Out

New Skydeck experience takes visitors on journey through the best of Chicago and brings the city to their feet – literally

CHICAGO – July 1, 2009 – Skydeck Chicago dares visitors to be among the first to step onto The Ledge, a series of glass bays that extend from the building’s 103^rd floor, when it opens to the public Thursday, July 2. Reaching out more than four feet from Skydeck Chicago’s west side, visitors have unobstructed views of Chicago – 1,353 feet straight down. In addition, guests will enjoy brand new interactive exhibit spaces that offer a “one stop Chicago” cultural experience on their way to the top.

“The Skydeck has evolved to challenge our visitors’ curiosity,” said Randy Stancik, general manager, Skydeck Chicago. “You only need to see the forehead prints on the windows to know that visitors are constantly trying to catch a glimpse below. The Skydeck attracts more than one million visitors annually who enjoy views of up to 50 miles and four states. Now, they have a fifth view right at their feet.”

The Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), the building’s original designers, provided an innovative plan for this architectural and engineering achievement. SOM designed The Ledge so that the fully enclosed glass boxes rest between conveyer belts. The boxes retract into the building, allowing easy access for cleaning and maintenance. Each box provides unobstructed views of people, taxis, boats and bridges over Wacker Drive and the Chicago River.

“The Sears Tower set architectural and engineering standards when it was first built and now we are able to carefully craft new elements that expand the capabilities of the original design while retaining its integrity,” said Ross Wimer, design partner, SOM.

“The Sears Tower has always been about innovation. For this new Skydeck experience, we have kept with that tradition. Cantilevering out from the side of America’s tallest building, the viewing platform will allow visitors to see the incredible city of Chicago literally beneath their feet. This is a great addition to the Sears Tower and to Chicago,” added Bill Baker, structural engineer partner, SOM.

An unmatched view is not all that Skydeck Chicago offers. From the moment visitors arrive, they enjoy an entirely new queuing experience, and interactive and educational museum-quality exhibits. The exhibits highlight the iconic landmark, and celebrate Chicago’s sports, architecture, pop culture, history, food, music and people. Interactive displays feature the city’s rich history, major Chicago attractions and fun facts. And visitors can stand on video screens to see what Chicago staples would look like if they were standing on The Ledge, 103 floors above the pitching mound at Wrigley Field, Millennium Park’s Cloud Gate, North Avenue Beach and more.

The multimedia elevator gives visitors one of the fastest rides in the world up more than one hundred flights, while giving visitors points of reference for the heights they are ascending along their journey to the 103^rd floor. Combined with The Ledge, the Skydeck Chicago experience will provide visitors from all over the world an encompassing view of the building and the city.

“Skydeck Chicago celebrates Chicago’s rich history and culture through architecture and educational programs that enhance the Chicago experience for all ages,” said Stancik. “In a single trip up to 103, visitors will see and learn about the best the Windy City has to offer.”

MTH Industries, the Chicago-based 120-year-old glass and architectural metal contractor that installed Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, installed The Ledge’s glass panels. Each glass box is comprised of three layers of glass laminated into one seamless unit. The low-iron, clear glass is fully tempered and heat-soaked for durability. In addition, the motorized system that projects and retracts the boxes from the building utilizes steel LinearBeams.

Skydeck Chicago is open daily September through March from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and from April through October from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, please visit www.theskydeck.com or call 1.877.SKY.DECK.

About Sears Tower

Sears Tower is the premier corporate office building in Chicago, offering more than 4.5 million square feet of office and retail space. Located in Chicago's West Loop at 233 S. Wacker Drive, the skyscraper is easily accessible from the commuter rail stations, highways and all forms of public transportation. Standing 1,450 feet and 110 stories tall, Sears Tower is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and an integral part of Chicago’s culture. Originally opened in September 1973, it is home to more than 100 different companies, including prominent financial services firms, law firms and insurance companies. Sears Tower boasts spectacular vistas of Chicago, with views that can reach nearly 50 miles on a clear day. Sears Tower also boasts a tremendous infrastructure system, which includes enormous telecommunications capacity and unsurpassed electrical capacity and reliability. The Sears Tower Skydeck on the 103rd floor attracts more than 1.3 million visitors per year.

About U.S. Equities Asset Management, LLC

U.S. Equities Asset Management, LLC, is a leading full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Chicago. The company serves as a strategic real estate advisor to clients throughout the United States, providing development, program management, build-to-suit and construction oversight services; asset management and leasing; tenant representation, consulting and advisory services; and financial and investment services. For more information, visit www.usequities.com.

Full Details on the Greening of the Sears Tower

While just about every Chicago news organization carried the news yesterday of the plan to make the Sears Tower more environmentally responsible, most of the coverage consisted of painfully short blurbs with few real details.

So here's the complete press release, unfiltered, for you to digest on your own:

--:--

Sears Tower Unveils Sustainable Plan to Transform Tallest Building in Western Hemisphere

Project will significantly reduce energy use and CO2 emissions, spur economic development

CHICAGO, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Sears Tower today announced plans for the most significant sustainable modernization projects of an existing building ever undertaken. The project will result in unparalleled energy savings and reduced CO2 emissions to the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, reducing the base building electricity use by up to 80 percent, which includes a combination of energy savings and co-generation. The energy savings equal 68 million kilowatt hours annually or 150,000 barrels of oil every year. The sustainability plans also drive economic development in the West Loop, creating more than 3,600 jobs, and are part of a broader initiative to transform the global icon.

"Sears Tower, an iconic structure that defines the city's skyline, will undergo a groundbreaking transformation that creates economic growth with positive impact on our environment, leaving a lasting legacy for future generations," said John Huston of American Landmark Properties, representing the partnership that owns Sears Tower. "As the stewards of this icon, we take seriously our responsibility to make it relevant and successful, and the changes made and benefits realized through the bold sustainable initiatives at the tower serve as an example that a sustainable future is more than a concept, it is within our reach."

The building, which already meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria, will undertake sustainability initiatives above and beyond those used by the United Stated Green Building Council to rate a green building. Modernization strategies, designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG), include:

--  Efficiency improvements to the building's exterior envelope and
      windows. The tower has 16,000 single-pane windows. Sustainability
      plans for the building call for a window replacement and glazing
      program. Strategies to achieve a thermal break of the curtain wall are
      also being investigated. These upgrades would achieve savings of up to
      50 percent of heating energy.
  --  Mechanical systems upgrades in the form of new gas boilers that
      utilize fuel cell technologies, which generate electricity, heating
      and cooling at as much as 90 percent efficiency. Mechanical upgrades
      also will include new high-efficiency chillers and upgrades to the
      distribution system.
  --  The tower's 104 high speed elevators and 15 escalators that will be
      modernized with the latest technology to achieve 40 percent reduction
      in their energy consumption.
  --  Water savings that will be realized with conservation initiatives
      through upgrades to restroom fixtures, condensation recovery systems
      and water efficient landscaping, which will reduce water usage by 40
      percent and save 24 million gallons of water each year.
  --  Lighting that will be upgraded through advanced lighting control
      systems and daylight harvesting, an advanced lighting control system
      that automatically dims lights in tenant spaces based on the amount of
      sunlight entering through the windows. Combined, these upgrades will
      save up to 40 percent of lighting energy consumption.
  --  Renewable energy like wind and solar, and technologies like green
      roofs that will be tested. Wind turbines will be tested to take
      advantage of the tower's height and unique set-back roof areas. Solar
      hot-water panels will help heat water for the building. Green roofs
      that can sustain high- altitude conditions, and that will be among the
      tallest in the world, will be tested to reduce storm water runoff,
      improve insulation, help mitigate the urban heat island effect, and
      provide pleasant vistas for tenants overlooking the areas.

"Buildings are the world's largest contributor to carbon emissions, and therefore the biggest opportunity to address climate change is to retrofit existing structures," said Adrian Smith, partner, AS+GG. "Our goal in the Sears Tower greening project is to create a holistic approach that integrates high-performance building technologies and design strategies for maximum energy efficiency. In the process, we hope to set a benchmark for how high-rise buildings throughout the world can limit their impact on the environment."

"Sustainable architecture in new buildings is important but not enough to address the climate and energy crises facing our world," added Gordon Gill, partner, AS+GG. "We have to apply what we've learned to our existing stock of commercial buildings--especially iconic structures such as Sears Tower, which we hope will inspire similar initiatives around the globe. These will serve as great examples for building owners and managers and can reposition existing building stock to be as competitive as most new buildings or even better."

As an important part of the modernization program, Sears Tower's plazas and retail spaces will also undergo changes. A new park at Wacker Drive and Adams Street will be an inviting public space with landscaping and seating. The Adams Street granite wall will be replaced with an interactive digital display, glass storefronts, and trees, which will be planted to form a landscaped terrace that will add a natural filter for carbon dioxide.

In addition to the most significant energy efficiency renovations ever undertaken on an existing building, another aspect of the transformation is a proposed new, privately funded hotel for the site at Jackson Boulevard and Wacker Drive. The hotel will be designed for a LEED Gold rating, and will become one of the most sustainable hotels in Chicago. The hotel will fill a critical need in the West Loop and provide a much welcomed facility for existing building tenants.

The reduction in energy use and CO2 emissions realized through the sustainability and modernization plans for the tower also brings economic opportunities by creating more than 3,600 jobs. Extending its impact beyond the site itself, the project will feature a dynamic Sustainable Technology Learning Center that is designed to help building visitors and Chicago tourists learn about ways to save energy and money, as Sears Tower serves as a laboratory that demonstrates to the office building industry how a sustainability program can be accomplished.

"The plans for the building bring new activity to the West Loop, and make it even more attractive to current and future tenants who are looking for more sustainable office solutions," said Robert A. Wislow, chairman and CEO of U.S. Equities Asset Management, the management and leasing agent for the tower. "Today, tenants want the buildings they inhabit to be environmentally friendly and more healthy for their employees. They demand sustainable workplaces. They are doing this because it is the right thing to do, has a positive effect on the environment, helps make their employees more productive and is becoming more and more important to their employees."

The cost of construction for the Sears Tower project is estimated at $350 million. A number of private and public financing and funding options are being explored. The majority of the energy savings will be realized in approximately five years and work will start immediately.

"The Illinois Environmental Council supports private and public investments in projects that spur job creation and economic development here in Illinois, while helping to meet the challenge of global climate change," said Charles Jackson, IEC executive director. "The Sears Tower energy sustainability and environmental education project presents a tremendous opportunity for inspiring building owners and the public to aspire to the highest standards of energy-efficiency."

Sears Tower's commitment to energy efficiency is well established. Since 1989, the building has reduced its annual electricity consumption by 34 percent. Since 1984, its energy efficiency improvements have resulted in a reduction of 51 million pounds of carbon emissions annually, or the equivalent of removing more than 4,400 cars from the road each year.

For more information on the sustainability plans for the building, please visit: www.searstower.com/icon.

About Sears Tower

Sears Tower is the premier corporate office building in Chicago, offering more than 4.5 million square feet of office and retail space. Located in Chicago's West Loop at 233 S. Wacker Drive, the skyscraper is easily accessible from the commuter rail stations, highways and all forms of public transportation. Standing 1,450 feet and 110 stories tall, Sears Tower is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and an integral part of Chicago's culture. Originally opened in September 1973, it is home to more than 100 different companies, including prominent financial services firms, law firms and insurance companies. Sears Tower boasts spectacular vistas of Chicago, with views that can reach nearly 50 miles on a clear day. Sears Tower also boasts a tremendous infrastructure system, which includes enormous telecommunications capacity and unsurpassed electrical capacity and reliability. The Sears Tower Skydeck on the 103rd floor attracts more than 1.3 million visitors per year.

About 233 S. Wacker Drive, LLC

The building is owned by 233 S. Wacker Drive LLC, a real estate investment group formed in 2004 to purchase the tower. Ownership includes Yisroel Gluck and John Huston, of American Landmark Properties, Ltd., based in Skokie, Ill.; and partners Joseph Chetrit, and Joseph Moinian of The Moinian Group.

About U.S. Equities Asset Management, LLC

U.S. Equities Asset Management, LLC, is a leading full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Chicago, with operations in Detroit, Philadelphia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Colombia. The company serves as a strategic real estate advisor to clients throughout the United States and Latin America, providing development, program management, build-to-suit and construction oversight services; asset management and leasing; tenant representation, consulting and advisory services; and acquisition, disposition and financing of real estate assets. The asset management services group provides asset oversight, property and facility management, marketing and leasing and strategic planning to a diverse group of clients. Currently, the portfolio includes more than 400 properties totaling over 24 million square feet of office, retail, institutional, dormitory, facility and residential management services for approximately 50 clients, including 2.5 million square feet of management assignments along Chicago's famous Michigan Avenue.

About Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture was founded in 2006 in Chicago. AS+GG is focused on the design of high-performance architecture on an international scale. The firm is dedicated to the creation of new paradigms for sustainable development, and uses an integrated design approach that emphasizes symbiosis with the natural environment. AS+GG's architects are expert in a range of building types, including supertall towers, large-scale mixed-use developments, corporate offices, exhibition and cultural facilities, civic and public spaces, and hotels and residential complexes. Currently, AS+GG is involved in more than two dozen projects in the United States, Canada, China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

About the Illinois Environmental Council

The Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) is a 34-year old organization that promotes sound environmental laws and policies, as well as the adoption of environmental best practices in the private sector. Also, IEC provides a forum for environmental advocacy organizations and facilitates a statewide activist network. 

Chicago Props in Pusan

This is a huge poster on a wall surrounding the construction site for the Busan Lotte Tower in Busan (Pusan), South Korea .  The building is designed to be 107 stories tall, and if completed could be even taller (including its spire and such) than the Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, or its sister tower the Lotte Super Tower in Seoul, which is also pictured on this poster.

The poster shows how the building rising behind the wall will compare to the world's tallest buildings.  Starting with Taipei 101, and then right next to it -- Chicago's Sears (Willis) Tower which is rightfully depicted as taller.  Unfortunately, when we were there last month, construction had stopped.  Estimated completion date is 2015, so there's still plenty of time to get things moving again.

Another Chicago link -- both the Busan Lotte Tower and the Lotte Super Tower were designed by Chicago's own Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill .

Who Loses With The Willis Tower?

With The Willis Group moving hundreds of its employees into the Sears Tower and changing the name to Willis Tower, there are a lot of people shaking their heads.  Not just because of the name change, but because it's going to leave a bunch of buildings with hundreds fewer people in them at a time when it's tough to lease office space.

The big losers are:

10 South LaSalle Street 

The Unitrin Building (One East Wacker Drive) 

Gateway Center III (222 South Riverside Plaza) 

and two suburban locations.

Willis Tower Official Release

Here's the text of the official press release about the Sears Tower becoming Willis Tower.

Willis Group Holdings to Move Chicago Area Offices to Sears Tower;
Building to Be Renamed Willis Tower

Global Insurance Broker Will Occupy Multiple Floors in Iconic Building This Summer

New York, March 12, 2009 – Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH), the global insurance broker, today announced that Willis will become a new tenant of Sears Tower, and under an agreement with the building’s owners, the Chicago icon and tallest building in the Western Hemisphere will be renamed Willis Tower.

Willis plans to consolidate five area offices and move nearly 500 Associates into Willis Tower, initially occupying more than 140,000 square feet on multiple floors. Willis said its move to the new space, at $14.50 per square foot, will result in significant real estate cost savings, and that there is no additional cost to the company associated with renaming the building.

“Having our name associated with Chicago’s most iconic structure underscores our commitment to this great city, and recognizes Chicago’s importance as a major financial hub and international business center,” said Joseph J. Plumeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Willis Group Holdings. “We are delighted to be making this bold move and firmly establishing our leading presence in one of the nation’s biggest insurance markets, and it will be wonderful for all our Associates to work under one roof.”

The building, first opened in 1973, is recognized worldwide as a center for business, and an architectural signature of Chicago’s skyline. “We are proud to add the Willis name to the tower, and welcome the company and its 500 Associates to this premier Chicago address,” said John Huston, Executive Vice President of American Landmark Properties, Ltd., part of the real estate investment group that owns the building. “This key new tenant underscores the importance of the building as a destination for successful businesses.”

“We are thrilled that Willis Group will be consolidating their Midwest operations in Chicago, demonstrating their commitment to this city by retaining almost 500 jobs here in addition to planning for future job growth. Their decision speaks to the quality of Chicago’s workforce, and our vibrant and supportive business community. We welcome this strong global corporation and look forward to working with Willis in the years to come,” said Rita Athas, Executive Director of World Business Chicago.

Relocating to Willis Tower will be three current Willis HRH offices in Chicago, located at 10 South LaSalle Street, One East Wacker Drive and 222 North Riverside Plaza, along with two suburban locations – in Oak Brook and Lombard. The move is expected to be completed by late summer. The company’s North American business is now known as Willis HRH following Willis’ October 2008 acquisition of insurance intermediary Hilb Rogal & Hobbs (HRH). Chicago is the headquarters of Willis HRH’s Midwest Region.

“This move will be a huge benefit to our Associates,” said Don Bailey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Willis HRH. “Working even more collaboratively and closely together as a ‘One Flag’ team, we will be able to provide even better service and offer more innovative solutions to our clients. As we seek new growth opportunities, we’ll also benefit from having greater brand recognition in this market. Willis Tower will make us a household name among our clients, prospective clients and in the larger business community.”

Willis HRH is the leading retail insurance broker in the Chicago market, arranging property and casualty and other insurance coverage for businesses of all sizes – from large corporations to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The majority of Willis HRH Associates moving to Willis Tower work in the company’s retail brokerage business, which is supported by Willis’ key specialist capabilities in such areas as construction, executive risk, healthcare, property, real estate and employee benefits.

Willis Tower also will be home to Willis Commercial, a business unit dedicated to serving the insurance needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Willis Commercial utilizes the technology platform and capabilities of the company’s Chicago-based InsuranceNoodle™ unit, a web-enabled wholesaler of commercial property and casualty products that Willis acquired in 2007. In addition, Willis’ Innotech business, a high-tech service center for healthcare benefits clients, will be housed in the Willis Tower offices.

The building is owned by 233 S. Wacker Drive LLC, a real estate investment group formed in 2004 to purchase the tower. Ownership includes New York City-based partners Joseph Chetrit; and Joseph Moinian and Steve Bederman of The Moinian Group; and Yisroel Gluck and John Huston, of American Landmark Properties, Ltd., based in Skokie, Illinois. U.S. Equities Asset Management LLC, headquartered in Chicago, provides management and leasing services to the property. Michael Kazmierczak, Senior Vice President, U.S. Equities, represented the building in negotiations. Josh Kuriloff, Vice Chairman, and Kent Ilhardt, Executive Vice President, Cushman & Wakefield, represented Willis.

Willis HRH is the North American retail brokerage business of Willis Group Holdings. The unit has more than 200 local offices across the United States and Canada, offering a full range of insurance and risk management services, specialist expertise and global resources to large corporate, middle-market and small business clients.

Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting and actuarial services to corporations, public entities and institutions around the world. Willis has more than 400 offices in nearly 120 countries, with a global team of approximately 20,000 Associates serving clients in some 190 countries. Additional information on Willis may be found atwww.willis.com.

It's Official: Sears Tower to become Willis Tower

Yesterday we told you about the article in the Wall Street Journal that stated if The Willis Group decided to consolidate its regional offices in the Sears Tower instead of the Citigroup Center that the building would be renamed Willis Tower.  Well, it actually happened.

The Willis Group is moving 500 employees from a several other buildings into the Sears Tower and it got the naming rights in the process.

Willis is paying $14.50/square foot for 140,000 square feet of office space in the Sears Willis Tower.  The owners of the building threw in the name for free.

It remains to be seen wether there will be an outcry over the name change, but considering all the corporate identities and other bits of Chicago history that have been lost over the last decade, there's little chance this won't go through.

Watch out, Wrigley Field .