Imagine mail piled high. Imagine trains rumbling beneath your feet. That was the Old Chicago Post Office. It once handled a mind-boggling volume of correspondence. Today it stands as a testament to Chicago’s history. It is also a symbol of architectural ingenuity.
The Old Chicago Post Office is a nine-story office building. It is located in downtown Chicago. Graham Anderson Probst and White designed this behemoth. Construction began in 1921. The structure was significantly expanded in 1932. This was to accommodate Chicago’s booming postal business.
Mail-order giants Montgomery Ward and Sears fueled this growth. They transformed Chicago into the nation’s mail-order capital. Imagine the sheer scale of their operations. The Old Chicago Post Office was at the heart of it all.
Interestingly the Old Chicago Post Office’s design faced a challenge. The proposed Congress Parkway extension was to run through the site. A compromise was reached. A hole was reserved in the building’s base for the parkway. Twenty years later this foresight proved invaluable.
However in 1966 the Old Chicago Post Office faced a crisis. A logjam of 10 million mail pieces brought the system to a halt. Chicago’s postal service was deemed the worst. A new post office was proposed across Harrison Street.
In 1997 the Old Chicago Post Office was vacated. A modern facility replaced it. The Old Chicago Post Office was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
For years the Old Chicago Post Office sat vacant. In 2006 the government spent $2 million annually just to maintain it. In 2009 the Postal Service auctioned the Old Chicago Post Office. English real estate developer Bill Davies bought it for about $17 million.
Davies had grand plans. He proposed a $3.5 billion redevelopment. It included a 120-story skyscraper. It would have been the tallest in the United States. This ambitious vision never materialized. Davies put the Old Chicago Post Office up for sale in 2014.
After nearly two decades of vacancy the Old Chicago Post Office found new life. In 2016 601W Companies purchased the building. A $500 million renovation transformed the space into modern offices.
Today the Old Chicago Post Office houses corporate giants. Walgreens and PepsiCo have offices here. The Ferrara Candy Company also calls it home. The Old Chicago Post Office even features a rooftop park.
Interestingly the Old Chicago Post Office has appeared in major films. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight used it as a filming location. Transformers Dark of the Moon also featured the building. The east facade was decorated as the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Old Chicago Post Office stands as a symbol of Chicago’s past. It is also a testament to its present and future. It has adapted to the changing times. It continues to serve as a vital part of the city’s landscape.