$500M Makeover Plan For Old Post Office - Work to Begin Immediately

Although it’s seemed like a story that will never end, there appears to be a final plan in place for the Old Chicago Post Office that has sat vacant for years—finally. News broke yesterday about the city reaching an agreement with the massive building’s new owner, and the best part might be that work can actually begin immediately.

The first order of business is to begin work that will satisfy more than 20 code violations, which will include replacing the building’s roof, restoring the historic lobby, repairing the building’s beautiful facade, add new high-speed elevators, and completely re-work the electrical, plumbing, heating, and ventilation systems.

The entire renovation will be done in three phases and early estimates are showing the entire project will cost over $500 million and likely take until 2018 to complete. Once finished, the 1.2 million square foot office will be a state-of-the-art office building capable of housing 12,000 workers. Developers are hoping tenants will be attracted to its central location in the city, as well as everything else the new building will offer, which includes high 18 foot ceilings, innovative work spaces with wide open floor plans, and up to 250,000 square feet per floor—something not many other commercial buildings in downtown Chicago can match.

Included will also be a fabulous new rooftop deck/park that spans 3 acres, as well as a landscaped riverwalk that will be open to the public.

After what’s been an eye-sore in downtown Chicago for what seems like forever, it’s nice to see this long overdue project move forward.