Owners plans $40-million revamp of Inland Steel Building
(Crain's) — The new owner of the Inland Steel Building plans a $40-million overhaul of the modernist Loop landmark, hoping to finance the project with $16 million in city and federal assistance.
Ten months after paying $57.3 million for the 19-story tower at 30 W. Monroe St., an investment group including New York-based Capital Properties LLC and celebrity architect Frank Gehry has asked two city panels to sign off on the renovation plan for the glass-and-steel structure, considered a pioneering architectural feat when it was completed in 1958.
 Inland Steel Building, 30 W. Monroe St. CoStar Group Inc. photo |
"We really have a chance to take a stab at bringing the visual elements back to their historical standards," says Capital Properties Vice-president Alex Mehran.
At the same time, the venture plans to bring the building into the 21st century by installing new bathrooms and windows, renovating mechanical systems and adding an environmentally sustainable roof. The ownership group plans to have the tower LEED-certified, a designation given to buildings that meet certain environmental standards.
A renovation could give the building a much-needed marketing boost after the departures of Mittal Steel, formerly the building's largest tenant, and Gensler, the architecture firm. About 144,000 square feet, or 62%, of the 232,450-square-foot high-rise is available for lease between now and third-quarter 2009, according to the property's Web site.
"Ideally, we'd like a tenant that wants a branded building," says Capital Properties President Richard Cohen. "This is a very long-term play."
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The building was designated a landmark 10 years ago, and the Commission on Chicago Landmarks will review the renovation plan at its Thursday meeting. On Sept. 9, the city's Community Development Commission will consider a proposal to provide $8 million in tax increment financing to finance the project, according to the Department of Planning and Development (DPD). The venture also plans to seek $8 million in federal historic tax credits.
With its stainless steel-and-glass façade, the Inland Steel Building ushered in the modern skyscraper era in the city, celebrating "the significant technological innovations that had occurred in skyscraper construction in the interwar years," according to a DPD report. "The building brought the International Style of Architecture to downtown Chicago, and in doing so, initiated the most transformative period in Chicago's architectural history since the days of the Chicago School in the 1880s and 1890s."
Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, the architecture firm that designed the high-rise, drew up the restoration plan, but Mr. Gehry has played a key role, Mr. Cohen says. Efforts to reach Mr. Gehry were unsuccessful.
"He is involved with everything," Mr. Cohen says. "He's loving it because for the first time in his life, he's the client."
