A potential buyer has been revealed for the Jewelers Building at 35 E Wacker Drive in The Loop. Located right on the river on the intersection with N Wabash Avenue, the historic building was most recently owned by Toronto-based real estate firm Dorchester. Now it would appear that local developer Mike Reschke is in talks to potentially purchase and redevelop the tower according to Crain’s.
Site context map of Jewelers Building via Google Maps
Rising 40 stories and 523 feet tall, it opened in 1927 and was designed by local architecture firm Giaver & Dinkelberg. Considered the tallest building west of New York upon opening, it originally housed the Jewelers association of Chicago and featured four vehicle elevators which led to a large indoor parking garage located at the center of the floors. Most recently it was the home of famed architecture firm Jahn, who used the cupola as a meeting room.
Images of Jewelers Building from 1926 and original floor plan via City of Chicago
Mike Reschke has been involved in multiple downtown conversion projects including the JW Marriott on LaSalle. While not much information has been confirmed, it is estimated that he would be paying around $35-40 million for the 556,200-square-foot structure. With an occupancy rate around 72 percent, Reschke’s firm is exploring converting a part of the building into a hotel as office demand remains low.
Lobby of Jewelers Building via Goettsch Partners
The tower’s sale is being led by real estate firm Newmark who was boasting the option of a residential conversion, with multiple buildings on LaSalle being considered for the same under a city initiative. At the moment no formal details have been revealed for the redevelopment, while the details of the potential sale still need to be finalized.
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It would be a fantastic addition to turn part of it into a hotel. I hope this happens and more single use office buildings get converted to a mix of uses. Perhaps the pandemic work from home exodus of the Loop will ultimately be the catalyst for significant, more robust change. The Loop needs to be a real neighborhood, not only a CBD.
The office slump is an historic opportunity for The Loop to remake itself into an area resembling Midtown Manhattan.
Exactly, agreed! Will we rise to the challenge or just hope and try to force office workers back to commuting and drab office life?
The city will be far more resilient if we make all neighborhoods complete ones including the Loop.
It seems like the top floors would be well suited for a residential conversion.
Agreed! Would love to see more residential in the loop and this would be an amazing opportunity
Is the parking still there? It would be very cool to have a unit with your car parked outside it 10 stories off the ground. Each unit would have a door to the parking area – kind of like a front door for a townhome. Even if a valet had to do the actual parking and un-parking, it would be a novel approach.
Ugg no. While it’s got cool historic significance, let’s leave car elevators in the past and reduce our need to even own cars in this great city.
While I respect your concern about cars, big elevators and places to store bikes, stollers, carts etc… are good things in a building. Imagine not carrying your bike down several flights of stairs, or asking others to wait for the next passenger elevator while you take your bike down or take your kid down in your stroller. Also, imagine how making bike storage and retrieval easier might convince more people to give up cars. Please think about how we can re-purpose existing infrastructure rather than carting it off to the nearest landfill.
Unfortunately, just make sure if you stay/live there that when you walk outside you bring your bodyguard with you while you walk down North Michigan Avenue. The police protect no one in this city anymore. They just stand on city corners laughing and talking to each other, and occasionally take reports of violence, but often refuse to do even that.
hush, is ok bb.