Chicago's Thompson Center sells for $70M

CHICAGO (WLS) -- After years of talk, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday that the authorities has reached a woody to merchantability the James R. Thompson Center, 1 of Chicago's astir recognizable buildings.

The CEO of the developer that volition bargain the Thompson Center revealed renderings showing what is being called a "bold plan" to sphere and renovate the iconic downtown gathering with a 17-story atrium, contempt the problems with heating and cooling that person plagued it since the gathering opened successful 1985.

"Those problems we recovered were precise manageable," said Michael Reschke, Chairman and CEO The Prime Group. "And really the problems with the gathering truly go the opportunities to marque this gathering iconic and special."

The politician called the woody the champion 1 for taxpayers. The authorities would support a 30% ownership stake.

"The Prime Group volition beryllium purchasing the Thompson Center for $70 cardinal up beforehand and, conscionable arsenic importantly, this merchantability alleviates taxpayers of implicit fractional a cardinal dollars successful indispensable deferred attraction costs connected this building," Pritzker said.

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The plans telephone for redoing the exterior with a caller curtain partition with floor-to-ceiling vigor businesslike windows. There volition besides beryllium respective levels with outdoor terraces.

"Honestly, look astatine however beauteous this is, truthful the reply is, it genuinely is simply a gem," Pritzker said.

The centerpiece volition beryllium the caller atrium, which the developer likens to the Gardens of Babylon.

"It'll beryllium the jewel of the gathering and hopefully the jewel of the gathering and the spot wherever tourists to the metropolis of Chicago privation to travel and person a photo," Reschke said.

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Architecture groups are praising the determination not lone due to the fact that it preserves the iconic building, but due to the fact that the Helmut Jahn Firm which primitively designed the Thompson Center is going to bash the renovation.

"I'm ecstatic that the Thompson Center is going to beryllium saved and it's going to beryllium saved really, overmuch of what we spot the invaluable aspects of it contiguous - that cardinal atrium that we love, the signifier the conical signifier of that building," said Lynn Osmond, President and CEO Chicago Architecture Center.

The household of erstwhile Gov. Jim Thompson, for whom the gathering was named, besides gave their blessing to the plan.

The $280 cardinal dollar makeover calls for retaining bureau abstraction and the CTA station, and it volition stay unfastened during renovations which could statesman wrong 12 months and instrumentality astir 2 years.