New | Historic Tribune Tower in Chicago goes up for sale
Publisher of Chicago Tribune newspaper explores outright sale or partnership to redevelop its historic 36-storey headquarters building
Tribune Tower, the historic Michigan Avenue home of the Chicago Tribune, is for sale.
The building’s owner, Tribune Media, announced last Thursday that it has hired real estate investment banker Eastdil Secured to explore an outright sale or partnership for redeveloping the 36-storey building, which sits on 1.2 hectares along one of Chicago’s busiest shopping districts.
“The global renown of this building, its unparalleled location and development potential make this an incredible opportunity and we are expecting a high level of interest from a broad range of private and institutional investors and developers,” Murray McQueen, president of Tribune Real Estate, said in a statement.
Tribune Real Estate unveiled conceptual plans last year to redevelop the parcel, potentially tripling Tribune Tower’s space with residential, retail and hotel components. The landmarked neo-Gothic building, which houses the Chicago Tribune and other tenants, has 737,000 square feet of space but is zoned for up to 2.4 million square feet.
Built in 1925, Tribune Tower was designed by New York architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells, who won a contest held by Chicago Tribune co-publishers Robert R. McCormick and Joseph Patterson to create the newspaper’s headquarters.
Named a Chicago landmark in 1989, Tribune Tower itself would likely remain a centrepiece of any redevelopment.