While Chicago businesses continue to downsize their downtown office space, JPMorgan Chase is doubling down on its longtime local headquarters, announcing a major multiyear renovation project Monday.
Chase Tower, the curving 60-story skyscraper towering over a full block in the heart of the Loop, will be “transformed” into a modern collaborative workspace for more than 7,000 Chicago-area employees, reflecting the bank’s commitment to both the city and a return to the office.
“We’re all learning in this post-pandemic environment, but we very much enjoy being with each other,” said Tony Maggiore, Chicago-based chairman of the Midwest market leadership team for Chase. “So the more collaborative space we have throughout the building to kind of promote folks being together, we think it’s a good thing.”
Located at 10 S. Dearborn St., the distinctive 55-year-old, steel-and-concrete tower — the tallest within the Loop’s elevated CTA train tracks — will undergo a top-to-bottom reimagining of office space, amenities and infrastructure.
Improvements include a new lobby-level fitness center, an updated food hall, a refreshed outdoor plaza, enhanced conference centers at the top floors and new elevators to get there faster.
While not setting a date to begin construction, Maggiore said Chase expects the renovation to start soon and take “a couple years” to complete. Workers will not be displaced during construction, he said.
“We don’t have to relocate employees during construction, because we actually have some room in the building to move people around, be thoughtful and efficient, which actually we think will shorten the construction cycle a little bit too,” Maggiore said.
Many downtown Chicago office buildings have a surplus of office space in the post-pandemic landscape. Vacancy in the city’s central business district, including direct and sublease availability, hit a record 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to data from real estate services firm Avison Young.
Chicago office buildings are at 54.9% of pre-pandemic occupancy levels, according to the latest weekly report by Kastle Systems.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has been bucking the remote and hybrid work trend since the height of the pandemic, pushing for a return to the office as early as September 2020. Those plans were delayed by a resurgence in COVID-19, but Chase has continued to encourage office time and in April 2023, issued a mandate that the bank’s managing directors return to the office five days a week.
Chase has 14,500 employees in the Chicago area, including 7,200 who are based out of Chase Tower. While Chase incorporates a mix of hybrid and full-time office schedules, Maggiore declined to say how many Chicago employees work in the office each day.
Mayor Brandon Johnson lauded the bank’s reinvestment in its office tower and the city’s struggling central business district.
“JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to Chicago’s future is commendable, and its major renovation plans for Chase Tower underscore Chase’s dedication to our city’s economic prosperity,” Johnson said in a news release.
Completed in 1969, the sloping 850-foot tower was designed by C.F. Murphy Associates and Perkins & Will, and christened as the First National Bank of Chicago building. It was renamed Bank One following a 1998 merger and became Chase Tower in 2005, after New York-based Chase acquired the bank.
The large sunken plaza was created south of the tower in 1972, after the old First National Bank Building was demolished. A popular Loop gathering place, the plaza has hosted concerts and is home to Marc Chagall’s noted mosaic, “The Four Seasons,” which was installed in 1974.
Chase owns and occupies the majority of the tower, leasing out space to ComEd parent Exelon as well, Maggiore said.
In 2021, the Tribune reported Chase was exploring the development of a new office building. Instead, the bank has chosen to reinvest in its longtime home. The scope of the project includes refurbishing work floors with updated meeting rooms and common spaces, a recurring theme in the collaborative post-pandemic office design.
Gensler is the lead architectural firm behind the renovation.
Maggiore did not disclose the budget for the renovation project, but said it was a “pretty significant investment” that would create more than 970 local construction jobs and generate $377 million in economic impact.
Beyond that, Maggiore said he hoped the reinvestment into an iconic office building would be a catalyst for the Loop at large.
“We love to bring clients here with great frequency and have them visit the city and take advantage not just of meeting with us…but trying to feed the ecosystem of the Loop,” he said. “Come down, spend some time with us, go see a show at the Goodman, enjoy a night out at a restaurant.”
The Chase announcement comes as at least one major Chicago-area employer is reportedly trying to sell a recently acquired downtown office building.
In January 2022, Northbrook-based Allstate bought a 10-story building at 29 N. Wacker Drive for $29.7 million, according to CoStar. At the time, Allstate said it was considering the building as a new headquarters after selling its sprawling suburban campus several months earlier.
Instead, Allstate moved its corporate headquarters to a smaller office building near its former suburban campus, and continues to lease Chicago office space in River Point, at 444 W. Lake St., and the Merchandise Mart. The insurance giant has now put the Wacker Drive property up for sale, the company confirmed Monday.
“Our employees have flexibility in where they work and many choose to work from home or out of an office a few days a week,” Allstate said in a statement Monday. “We bought this building to give us options when there was less certainty about what work would look like after the pandemic, and we no longer need this space with our existing Chicago area offices.”
Maggiore said reinvesting in its Loop tower will give Chase a leg up — and plenty of room to expand — as it seeks to recruit new talent in the years ahead.
“We want to keep growing and hiring,” Maggiore said. “And to be an employer of choice, we’ve got to be able to compete with the right amenities.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
