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The Willis Tower turns 50

2023-05-05T12:24:00-04:00

Now called Willis Tower, the building has been a trendsetter since its debut. After starting life as a headquarters for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the building saw its namesake tenant relocate to the suburbs. Along with the rest of downtown, it suffered other blows, including fears raised by the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the Great Recession. It’s always bounced back. But the tower now faces what might be its biggest test.

SOM won the commission from the Sears corporation in 1970 at a time when office parks and the desire to project a stronger image of America against the backdrop of the Vietnam War were separately prevailing forces in the AEC industry. Sears eventually sold the 110-story building, which was the world’s tallest for 22 years, for more than $1 billion in 1988. More recently it has turned into a focal point of the city’s office vacancy crisis, and new owners Blackstone are now looking forward to returns from a $500 million-plus renovation led by Gensler with optimism.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)'s CEO Javier Quintana de Uña agrees. As he said, "It always keeps ahead of everything else."

The Tribune has historic photos of the tower under construction here.

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Chicago's Willis Tower could face another name change following Aon takeover

2020-03-11T15:58:00-04:00

In a $30 billion deal, Aon is buying Willis Towers Watson, a rival in business insurance and risk consulting, but it raises one question in the mind of most Chicagoans: What will happen to the Willis Tower name now that we’ve gotten used to calling it that? The deal between the two London-based companies was announced Monday. Executives said the combined operation will use the Aon name, not Willis.

Willis Tower, which once reigned the skyscraper ranking as the world's tallest building for nearly 25 years under its former name Sears Tower, will likely not be renamed again anytime soon as the naming rights contract with Willis Towers Watson insurance does not expire until March 2025.

Crain's Chicago Business reports that United Airlines, by far the largest tenant in the 110-story tower, could potentially also make advances towards putting its name on its headquarters building after hinting at such aspirations in the past.

"It's unclear whether Aon, which already has its name on one of the city's most recognizable towers—Aon Center in the East Loop—would have the right to unilaterally change the name," Crain's adds. "If Aon can change it, it's conceivable that the city could soon have Aon Center and Aon Tower in a flex of the company's skyline muscle."

The Petronas vs. Sears Tower controversy revisited

2019-05-03T14:43:00-04:00

The decision – that the Petronas Towers were indeed the world’s new tallest building(s), measuring 451.9 meters to the tops of their decorative spires – was based on the re-affirmation of a standard the Council had held for some 60 years. The antennae atop Sears Tower, which took it to an ultimate height of 527 meters, did not count toward its “architectural” height, because the antennae were not considered a permanent part of the building. [...] It was not a popular decision in Chicago [...]

Remember when the Southeast Asian nation of Malaysia laid claim to the title of "World’s Tallest Building" in 1996; daring to challenge Sears Tower's crown which had been the incumbent record holder since 1974? The Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the organization responsible for keeping track of proper building heights, back then determined in a historic announcement that Kuala Lumpur's brand new twin Petronas Towers measured 451.9 meters/1,483 feet from sidewalk to the top of their spires and were indeed the world's new reigning champions.

The CTBUH's decision was not well received in Chicago, to say the least, and a heated debate errupted whether Sears Tower's antennae should have been included in the building height determination to keep the 110-story behemoth at the top and the largely unrivaled sense of American exceptionalism intact. (The champion title has never returned to the United States since then, and Sears Tower, now Willis Tower, is currently ranked at ...

Chicago's Willis Tower is getting new elevators

2018-05-08T15:36:00-04:00

The 16,000 people who work in and visit Willis Tower each day could soon be spending less time on their elevator rides in Chicago's tallest building. A five-year project to upgrade the tower's 83 elevator shafts -- and replace 97 passenger cabs, as some shafts have two-level elevators -- will start in June, according to the building's owner, Blackstone Group's Equity Office, and elevator firm Otis.

This major upgrade is expected to significantly reduce trip times as well as energy consumption (by as much as 30-35%), according to Equity Office and Otis.

The 110-story Willis Tower—once ranked as the world's tallest building for nearly 25 years—hasn't undergone such an enormous overhaul since it was completed in 1973 as Sears Tower.

Chicago's Willis Tower to get $20 million expansion of the hair-raising Skydeck

2017-03-28T19:04:00-04:00

Not for the faint of heart, the Blackstone Group is planning on expanding the Skydeck, the popular observatory on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, according to Chicago Business. The skyscraper, still commonly referred to as the Sears Tower, was the tallest building in the world for nearly 25 years before being overbuilt by the Petronas Towers. The new owners acquired the space in 2015 for $1.3 billion, the highest price every paid for a US property outside of New York City, and are considering ways to further develop the property.

In 2009, the building then held by London-based insurance broker Willis Group, added retractable glass balconies. This panic-inducing attraction extends approximately 4 feet out into the sky, allowing those who dare the ability to stand 1,353 feet in the sky from a glass box referred to as The Ledge. Building on this popular attraction, the fresh proprietors of the tower are considering a $20 million expansion. With glass-bottomed attractions popping u...

Chicago's Willis Tower sold for $1.3B to Blackstone Group

2015-03-19T13:20:00-04:00

Blackstone Group LP agreed to buy Chicago’s Willis Tower, the second-tallest building in the U.S., and plans to upgrade the retail and observatory space in a bet on growth in the city. [...] On a per-square-foot basis, the valuation for the more than 40-year-old Willis Tower is lower than deals for newer buildings. The Blackstone price is about $342 a square foot, based on about 3.8 million square feet (353,000 square meters) of rentable space.

Previously: Need a skyscraper? Chicago’s Willis Tower just hit the market.

Need a skyscraper? Chicago’s Willis Tower just hit the market.

2015-03-05T17:29:00-05:00

Chicago’s Willis Tower, once the world’s tallest building and one of the city’s top tourist attractions, is up for sale. [...] The 1,450-foot (442-meter) building, formerly known as the Sears Tower, is the second-tallest in the U.S., and was the world’s highest from its completion in the early 1970s until 1998 [...] “It’s iconic in the size and how it dominates the skyline, [...] As an office building, however, it’s 1970s construction.”

Willis Tower Suspends Visitors Above Chicago

2011-05-31T14:25:03-04:00

Despite the reassuring rivets in the 1,500-pound glass panels, the calm stillness of the air at the Windy City’s pinnacle and the security of a 10,000-pound weight capacity for each of the four 4.3-foot-deep glass boxes that protrude past the sheer edge of the Western Hemisphere’s tallest building — despite all that, you still feel twinges of queasiness.