Officials To Decide Between 2 Thompson Center Proposals: Report

CHICAGO — Two potential buyers for the James R. Thompson Center submitted proposals to the Illinois Department of Central Management Service this weekend, according to a report.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported the 17-story building may soon have a new owner, but officials could not say who submitted the proposals or if they planned to preserve the all-glass building or knock it down.

State officials told Patch a group has begun evaluating both proposals and hopes to pick one by the end of the year.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has called the former government building at 100 West Randolph Street expensive and outdated, but has not publicly spoken about its sale since the death of the building's designer, Helmut Jahn.

In 2019, Pritzker signed a bill to begin efforts to sell the building, citing its need for millions of dollars in repairs the state was not willing to spend.

The building has been designated as one of the most endangered historic buildings by Landmarks Illinois for the past three years. Government officials and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services have been working towards selling the property for years, but disputes about how much — if any — of the original architecture to keep and its sales price had kept the mixed-use building in limbo until recently.

"Selling the property provides a unique opportunity to maximize taxpayer savings, create thousands of union jobs, generate millions of dollars in real estate taxes to benefit the City of Chicago and spur economic development," Pritzker said in a statement.

The center was built in 1985 and currently houses several state agency offices as well as a CTA train station connected to the atrium.

Historical preservation group Landmarks Illinois said the nonprofit "only supports a sale if it includes reuse of the irreplaceable building, which remains Chicago's best example of grandly-scaled, Postmodern architecture."

The request for proposals required any redevelopment to name a part of the new property after the Thompson Center's original namesake, the former Illinois governor from 1977 to 1991 who died last year. The request also specifies the attached Clark/Lake train station has to remain open during any demolition or construction.

In September, the Chicago Architecture Center and the Chicago Architectural Club picked winners from a redesign contest for the Thompson Center. Sustainability in the building and access to affordable housing were common themes among the top submissions.

Organizers of the contest said they hoped the redesigns could influence proposals to include a creative re-use of the building.