Chicago Plan for Downtown Office-to-Residence Conversions

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot seeks to revitalize a “foot traffic-starved” area of the downtown Loop on and around LaSalle Street by providing tax incentives to developers that convert underused office properties into residences and other uses, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat reports, citing Crain’s. In response to Lightfoot’s LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative, nine developers submitted plans totaling more than US$1.2 billion for seven properties. They include Chicago-based Riverside Investment & Development, which proposes to redevelop the 45-story Art Deco LaSalle National Bank tower on 135 South LaSalle Street to the tune of US$258 million. The ultimate goal of LaSalle Street Reimagined is to bring at least 1,000 new residences to the area over the next five years.