Updated renderings have been revealed for the renovation for the structure dubbed Canal Station at 801 S Canal Street in the South Loop. The massive building is located on the southeastern corner with W Polk Street just south of the Old Post Office, thus the property’s new owners hope to cash in on the area’s growing appeal for office relocations in recent years. Those owners being 601W Companies and The Telos Group who are working with SCB on its design.
Canal Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Rendering of Canal Station by SCB
Work began in 2021 when the development group acquired the property from its previous sole occupant Northern Trust, now the structure will become a multi-tenant space with a new lobby and facade. Overall the six-story building will deliver a total of 850,000 square feet of space of which 638,000 square feet will be leasable office space, with the design team focusing on utilizing the existing expansive 110,000 square-foot floor plates, large windows, and industrial elements to their advantage.
Canal Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Rendering of Canal Station by SCB
The focal point of the new project will be the multi-story lobby with a wrap-around entry arch. Inside will be a large media installation, monumental staircase, and walkways connecting the upper floors similar to the renovated Willis Tower lobby. This will also include new commercial spaces for food and beverage tenants like a cafe as well as other amenities such as a large fitness center, 7,000-square-foot outdoor terrace on a setback, and a conference center.
Rendering of Canal Station by SCB
Rendering of Canal Station by SCB
While work quickly progresses on many of the changes including the lobby now being visibly framed out, the next steps for the facade work will include painting a majority of the existing concrete panels to an orange color in order to create a new identity. The developers hope to complete the $265 million project by the end of the year, with shuttles being planned to move future tenants to Union Station and beyond.
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Disagree with me if you want – but the area needed a pop of color and this looks good. Any chance of spurred development in this micro area?
I’m happy to see this development is happening and like the rendered development, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in the area. The building is somewhat hard to get to and bordered in the east by a substation/the river, in the west by a large parking lot, in the south by a ton of mediocre big box retailers, and in the north by a large USPS facility. I believe both the north/south streets that border it are also no outlet streets. I hope it succeeds, but I’d hate to here that my employer was moving into this building. I guess it’s only a 10 minute walk from union, which is something.
I agree with this assessment… sometimes there are just fundamental existential challenges to an area that will keep it from reaching its full potential. This section of South Canal Street is one of those areas.
The riverside substation in particular is a reminder of other substations previously built on industrial riverside property that are now hindrances to development. For example, there are large substations at Division/Halsted and at Addisom and California that both prevent future development and diminish the walkability and aesthetic qualities of neighboring properties.
I’m no expert on the electrical grid but I assume there are ways to condense/enclose sprawling outdoor substations…yet presumably at great expense.
I wonder if they have any plans for the parking lot to the south of their building (it’s the same lot). Filling that void would do a lot for the area.