Foreman & Kohn Building, Mercantile Building
Life Span: 1887-1956
Location: SW Corner S. Franklin and W. Adams, 305 W Adams (Sears Tower site)
Architect: Bauer & Hill
Inland Architect, December, 1886
Business block for Henry G. Foreman and Henry A. Kohn, by Bauer & Hill, architects, Chicago. The building is situated on the southwest corner of Adams and Franklin streets, is 100 by 125 feet, eight stories and basement high, a total height of 134 feet from the street level. The materials are St. Louis pressed brick, blue Bedford stone and terra-cotta, slow burning construction. A light court is in the southwest corner, under which is placed the boilers and steam heating apparatus. The building was commenced July 22, 1886, and is under heavy bond to be finished January 1, 1887, which will be done. Cost about $200,000.
Rand, McNally & Co.’s Bird’s-Eye Views of Chicago, 1893
⑧ Mercantile Company Building,
Leased by Clement, Bane & Confronts 125 feet on Franklin Street and 100 feet on Adams Street, at the southwest corner. It is 125 feet high, with 8 stories; cut-stone, brick, and terra-cotta exterior; 2 passenger and 3 freight elevators. It is occupied by wholesale jobbers of shoes, clothing, and dry goods. Erected in 1886.
- Mercantile Building
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
1906
Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1970
By Alvin Nagelberg
(Real Estate Editor)
Sears, Roebuck & Co., the world’s largest retailer, said yesterday it will build the world’s tallest building—1,450 feet high with 110 stories – on South Wacker Drive be: tween Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard.
The $100 million building will have 4.4 million square feet of gross interior space, making it the world’s largest privately-owned office building. Work will start next week and be completed in 1974.
The Merchandise Mart has 4,023,000 gross square feet of space, but much of that is exhibit space for manufacturers.
The Sears building will be second in volume only to the Pentagon in Washington. It will be taller than the twin 110-story World Trade Center buildings in New York City, each of which is 1,350 feet high.
Gordon Metcalf, chairman and chief executive officer of Sears, said the building will be called Sears Tower.
It follows the tradition established in naming its first mail order store building at Homan Avenue and Arthington Plaza the Tower building. Tower also is used as the brand name for several Sears products.
Set for FAA Maximum
Metcalf said the building will be as high as the Federal Aviation Administration would permit. It will reach almost as high as the tip of the television antennas on top the 100-story John Hancock Center, 875 N. Michigan Av.
Altho the building will have 109 stories on the Wacker Drive side of the tower, Metealf said officials should use the figure of 110 stories on the Franklin Street side as the official listing so that it would be as high as the World Trade Center buildings.
Metcalf said the building will be financed with company earnings. The giant retailer had sales of $8.9 billion last year and net income of $441 million.
He said sales are expected to increase by $1 billion a year.
Will Lease Remainder
The building will have 3.7 million square feet of net rentable space of which Sears will initially occupy less than 2 million square feet and lease the remainder to outside tenants.
About 16,500 persons are expected to work in the building. It will have only 150 parking spaces but officials expect less than 10 per cent of the employes will drive to work.
Mayor Daley told-the late afternoon press conference in the Sherman House: “On behalf of the people of Chicago, I want to thank Sears for the confidence they are showing in the future, in planning and designing the building which will adorn the west side.”
Restaurants Included
Mayor Daley said he was particularly enthusiastic because there has been concern about firms moving out of the city.
“I want to thank Sears again for the confidence they are showing the city,” he said.
The building will have boutique shops, restaurants and other service stores on the Franklin Street side.
Metcalf said the building will not have a Sears department store.
“We have one on State Street,” he said. “Besides we own that building.”
Diesel Construction, a division of Carl A. Morse, Inc., general contractor, will start
initial work on the building.
Sears Tower was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Chicago architect. Bruce Graham, who also designed the Hancock Center, was one of the partners in charge.
The structure will rise in a series of setbacks—a modified “wedding cake” style used in many New York City buildings. There will be setbacks at the 50th, 66th, and 90th stories, creating various floor arrangements as the height increases.
At the 103d floor, 1,350 feet above the street, there will be an observation deck. It will be higher than the observatory of the Hancock Center.
The exterior of the Sears Tower will be sheathed in black aluminum and bronze tinted glass.
The Sears building will be on a two-block tract assembled by private developers over a five-year period starting in 1964.
A jumble of 15 grime blackened bulidings, similar to those which once stretched the length of North and
South Wacker Drive, had to be purchased from 100 owners.
Sears bought the site last year for an undisclosed sum.
Quincy Street bisected the tract between Franklin Street and Wacker Drive. To consolidate its holdings, Sears paid the city $2.7 million for the street.
Sears is moving into one of the fastest growing sections of the Chicago central city. Altho the redevelopment of both banks of the south branch of the Chicago River is already underway, real estate men say the Sears building is generating new enthusiasm for the area.
Sears will be across the river from Gateway Center which started the redevelopment movement in the early 1960s. Tishman Realty & Construction Co. has built two 20-story office buildings and has a 35-story tower under construction.
Chicago Tribune, July 29, 1970
THE SEARS TOWER AND CHICAGO’S FUTURE
Big decisions are not made carelessly by the officials of Sears, Roebuck & Co., which helps to explain why the company is the world’s largest retailer, with annual sales of about $9 billion. In planning a new headquarters they considered many possible sites. They might have chosen to move to a suburb, as their own subsidiary insurance* companies have done. They might have decided to go to New York, which has a fascination for some corporation, executives in spite of its manifest disadvantages.
Instead, Sears Roebuck and Co. will build its headquarters in downtown Chicago and it will be the world’s tallest building as well as the largest private building in the world. Only the Pentagon will be larger.
The announcement of plans for the building is good news for Chicago at a time when good news is scarce. Along with other big cities Chicago has an array of staggering problems. The only encouraging development for the inner city in recent years has been the renaissance of the downtown area, which has compensated in large measure for the loss of manufacturing industries to the suburbs.
The new 110-story Sears Tower is another big step in this renaissance. It will strengthen the city’s tax base. It will stimulate other building on the west side of the Loop. It will confirm Chicago’s position as one of the world’s great business centers.
The site chosen for the new tower is on Wacker Drive between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard. No other place in the city is more convenient to transportation.
The commuter trains at Union and North Western stations are within easy walking distance. The projected Franklin Street subway, where the Lake Street-Dan Ryan subway trains will run, will be at the back door. The distributor subway under Monroe Street will be only a block away. The expressway system is close at hand.
The Tribune has had a lot to say on this page about the importance of developing Chicago’s mass transportation system. The Sears Tower illustrates what we have been talking about. Sears Roebuck & Co. is investing $100 million at a place which was chosen largely because of the availability of transportation.
The company’s decision also reflects confidence in the future of the city where Sears Roebuck was born and where it has thrived. The company has great plans for its future, based not on hopes but on hard business experience.
If the city’s future is to be secure it will continue to be hospitable to such business enterprises and to maintain a climate of order.
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