Historic Chicago Office Tower Eyed for Conversion

An investor in Grand Rapids, Michigan, wants to convert the upper office floors of the 38-story, circa 1927 Pittsfield Building in Chicago into 214 apartments, adding to the 442 residences on floors 13-21 previously converted by Marc Realty, outlets including The Real Deal report, citing Crain’s. Crain’s said Tom Liravongsa of L’Cre Global filed a zoning application for the conversion at 55 East Washington Street following his purchase of 30 of the building’s floors in a foreclosure sale in 2023. The trend is being driven by underutilized downtown office space as remote work creates vacancies, as well as strong residential rental demand. Other conversion projects that have won city approval include 79 West Monroe Street, the Lightner Building at 1006 South Michigan Avenue and 135 South LaSalle Street.