The former Robert Morris University building on State Street — right across from the Harold Washington Library — is one of the nation’s most architecturally important structures, though you might not be able to tell by looking at it.
Built in 1891 and designed by famed skyscraper architect William Le Baron Jenney, the vacant commercial building at 401 S. State St. is a city landmark that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
But the building’s current state is at severe odds with its distinguished pedigree.
The historic structure sits empty and lifeless at the otherwise busy corner of State Street and Ida B. Wells Drive.
It was scheduled to be sold at auction like some common warehouse this week, the tail end of a saga that began five years ago when Robert Morris University moved out and merged with Roosevelt University.
A nearly 500,000-square-foot historic and architecturally important property situated at a Downtown gateway deserves a better fate.
Maybe it can get one. Architecture firm Perkins & Will and engineering company TYLin developed potential reuse schemes to turn the 134-year-old edifice into housing or an athletics center for students attending nearby colleges.
It’s a maybe because the firms created the plan on their own — not for an owner or a prospective client.
“Every good city has some great buildings that are worth fighting for; I think this one is no exception,” Justin Wortmann, architect and senior associate at Perkins & Will, said. “Chicago has a long history of showing the world what’s possible.”
A horizontal skyscraper
Built for businessman Levi Leiter, the eight-story commercial building is a skyscraper. You just have to turn your head sideways to really see it.
Instead of going vertical, Jenney — a pioneer in steel frame construction techniques that made tall buildings possible — went horizontal. The result was a building that unfurled down a full block of State Street, with deep, less-obstructed floor plates that were perfect for retail showrooms.
No wonder its original client, department store Siegel, Cooper & Co., took up shop there, followed by the former retail powerhouse Sears, who made the building its Chicago flagship store from 1931 to 1986. There used to be 3,500 Sears stores nationwide. Today, there are just eight — none of them in Illinois — that are owned by Hoffman Estates-based Transformco.
But how to reuse all that space? The housing scheme under the Perkins & Will and TYLin plan calls for apartments overlooking Wells Drive and State and Van Buren streets. The core of the deep building would be used for parking.
Wortmann said a courtyard could sit above the parking on the east side of the building.
“There’s been a lot of talk around multifamily conversions with these [types of] buildings, which makes a lot of sense,” he said. “I think what we propose is pretty clever by carving the back of the building out and allowing some parking underneath — which is sort of a necessary, unfortunately, amenity.”
The student center option would put courts for indoor athletics, fitness and exercise rooms on the third, fourth and fifth floors. The sixth through eighth floors largely would be reserved for student micro apartments, common spaces and lounges.
The scheme retains the building’s current dimensions. Both proposals feature ground-floor retail along State Street.
The time is right
Rethinking 401 S. State St. couldn’t come at a better time.
The 2023 Elevate State plan, developed by the Urban Land Institute, the Chicago Loop Alliance and the city of Chicago, suggests “exploring a mixed-use redevelopment to include office and/or educational space focused on growing sectors,” such as vocational education or hospitality and food preparation.
The Loop Alliance didn’t return calls seeking comment on the Perkins & Will and TYLin proposal.
Officials right now are considering improving programming and physical aspects of the neighboring Harold Washington Library.
Reuse is quite possible under the right plan. The DePaul Center, at 1 E. Jackson Blvd., was once the Goldblatt’s department store flagship. And the downtown Target store and Sullivan Center were once Carson Pirie Scott’s flagship at 1 S. State St.
What about the auction of 401 S. State? With an opening bid of just $1.25 million, what’s needed is an imaginative new owner who can unlock the building’s potential — and, for goodness’ sake, not turn it into a data center.
“This building saw two world wars, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement and the advent and creation of modern technology,” Wortmann said.
“It’s seen more than any of us can claim that we have seen. So if we are intent on preserving what makes Chicago Chicago, we have to save these buildings,” he said.