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Original Post: November 13, 2019
The first structure of the Old Main Chicago Post Office was built in 1921 and the addition, straddling an existing railway system and a planned expressway, was completed in 1932. The architects were Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. At the time, Chicago was the Nation’s mail order capital, and the massive structure of the Post Office served well the distribution of catalogues and sales for industry giants such as Sears, Montgomery Ward and Spiegel. It is fitting that this same structure, refurbished and re-purposed for a September 2019 opening, will serve Chicago’s 21st century economy by housing the tech departments of major companies like Walgreens, Ferrara Candy and Uber Technologies, as the City and business keeps pace with the electronic digital age of a new century.
After being vacant for 20 years, water damaged and crumbling, and plans that never left the drawing board, 601 W, a New York firm, had the capital needed to tackle a project that began with the removal of 20 million pounds of debris to make room for 2.5 million square feet of leasable space. Because the massive structure straddles an expressway and railway and borders the Chicago River, accessing it was a challenge and helicopters were needed to airlift the removal of debris (90% of which was recycled) and also to deliver new materials. Over $100 million was invested in more than 100,000 person hours to create the blank canvas of the New Old Chicago Post Office. On any given day, 200 workers from one of 27 construction firms could be found working on site. Gensler was the leading architectural firm for the redevelopment. (Alpha Lambda International, Ely Chapter, panel presentation, “Chicago’s Old Post Office”, April 17, 2019; Jamey Dix, Stephen Smith and Daniel Heckman, www.post433.com; and Danny Ecker, “The Loop’s Hot Corner”, Crain’s Chicago Business, May 27, 2019, pp. 1 and 20.)
The dramatically high ceilings and over-sized triple hung windows of the original structure, along with refurbished brass architectural appointments and Art-Deco light fixtures, are paired with state-of-the-art infrastructure. The thousands of employees housed here have 21st century amenities skilled tech professionals have come to demand: a grand “Grand Hall”, a “Boxcar” fitness center, a “Marquee” conference center, a “Meadow” multi-acre roof top deck, restaurants, bars, game room and library, not to mention an additional stretch of outdoor amenities along the Chicago River.
