State Street Landmark

19th-Century Masterpiece Revived for 21st Century

by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

The former Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. flagship department store, one of Chicago’s most revered skyscrapers, is undergoing interior and exterior renewal.

The nine-building complex will formally reopen next year as a modern multitenant, mixed-use property for retail, commercial and educational use. It’s also got a new name: the Sullivan Center, in honor of the building’s architect, Louis Henri Sullivan.

Chicago-based Joseph Freed and Associates is redeveloping the property at 33 S. State St., which takes up most of a city block. The buildings are anchored by the 12-story Sullivan-designed structure at State and Madison streets, which was constructed between 1898 and 1904. Carson’s took over in 1904 and expanded with additions by D.H. Burnham and Co. in 1906 and Holabird and Root in 1961.

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The building is widely recognized by two prominent architectural features: the ornate iron grillwork that wraps the first two floors, and the curved corner rotunda. It was named a Chicago Landmark in 1970 and a National Historic Landmark in 1975.

Freed acquired the property from Carson’s in October 2001. It was a traditional sale and lease-back arrangement with the retailer occupying the lower eight floors. Freed rehabbed the vacant upper four office floors and cleaned and repaired much of the white terra cotta façade. The developer also replaced the original, long-gone decorative cornice.

“The department store took down the cornice in the 1940s and put up a new parapet wall that was similar to the balance of the building, but the historical feeling was lost,” says Paul Fitzpatrick, Freed’s senior vice president of development.

With no drawings and only poor photographs for guidance, a panel of restoration experts helped to create a historically correct design. The new cornice was manufactured from glass-reinforced concrete rather than delicate terra cotta. In 2006 the project received restoration awards from the Chicago Landmarks Commission and the Chicago Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Carson’s Departs

Then, in the summer of 2006, Carson’s announced its intention to leave the premises in part because of the high cost of operating in the building. It was an unexpected but pleasant development.

“It wasn’t our goal that Carson’s leave, but upon their exit we had opportunities for further restoration of the project,” Fitzpatrick says.

Freed launched a fast-track program for the rest of the building. That phase included restoring the ironwork—which couldn’t be done with tenants in place—and building a new Freed corporate headquarters, whose other major project downtown is the residential and retail portion of Block 37, now called 108 N. State St.

The heavy lifting fell to Hoffman Estates-based Leopardo Construction, which gutted 600,000 sq ft to its original core and shell and readied it for tenant build-outs. Demolition teams removed partition walls and also took out 24 escalators and filled in the holes. New drywall was hung and the mechanical-electrical-plumbing systems were replaced.

Hauling HVAC systems and their steel framing to the roof called for helicopter power. The lifts were scheduled on Sunday mornings when traffic was slower and streets could be closed.

“With the L tracks on Wabash, we can’t get a crane over there,” says Leopardo senior project manager Mike Solka. “We did four or five helicopter lifts. One day in March it was colder than I can ever remember. Those are the little things that spice it up.”

The build-out of Freed’s 50,000-sq-ft headquarters on the fourth floor was handled by Skokie-based Alter Group’s Construction Services affiliate. The design had to serve corporate needs, and it also had to meet landmark restrictions that honor the building’s architectural features.

“It’s not like a clear white shell that you’re working with in a newer building,” says interior-design lead Anjell Karibian of Rossetti Architects in Detroit. “We have to work carefully around what is there and what should remain in a highlighted way.”

Among the restrictions, columns and their decorative capitals must remain in place, and views from the street into the building must be unobstructed. The designers complied, in part, with partial-height divider walls and a low-profile ceiling duct along the State Street window side. Workspaces are set back away from the windows.

“Because we couldn’t cover up the capitals, all the ductwork and mechanical components are exposed on the ceiling,” says Alter’s project manager Mike Domasica. “You have a mix of the old and the new, which is kind of neat. We painted it all white, so it all but disappears.”

As for the cost of the project, Freed isn’t talking. Fitzpatrick acknowledged receiving nearly $10 million in tax-increment-financing funds for restoration, but “everything else is rumor and I can’t substantiate any of it. We don’t divulge our project costs.”

1 Million Sq Ft of Historic Space

In its final configuration, the Sullivan Center offers 1 million sq ft of space available for lease. Floors three through 12, with 750,000 sq ft, are designated for office and educational use, and the basement and first and second floors, with 250,000 sq ft, are designated for retail.

Office leasing is going well. By mid-summer, all but two floors were spoken for. The State of Illinois has four floors and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has two. Freed moved in July and Gensler, an international architecture firm, moved in August.

Retail leasing also is impacted by landmark restrictions, which prohibit cutting new storefront through the vintage ironwork.

“I’m limited to the number of doors that exist on the structure,” Fitzpatrick says. “We’re working with retailers who can take bigger chunks of space on State Street. On the Wabash side, where we have five separate buildings, we can break that up into smaller uses.”

Also at mid-summer, only Flat Top Grill, an upscale stir-fry restaurant, had signed on. Gourmet grocer Fox & Obel and Australian apparel retailer Billabong International have expressed interest, and Freed is talking to others.

Meanwhile, the last of the major restoration is under way. The ironwork is detached from the building, and layers of paint and corrosion are being sanded away before new paint is applied. Damaged areas are repaired or recast. New windows will be installed and the ironwork remounted. It’s a tedious process that must be completed—and the scaffolding removed—before any retailers can open. Freed plans a summer 2009 grand opening.

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