Michigan Avenue’s Realtor Building cleared for vertical expansion

The National Association of Realtors was cleared to add a new 13th and 14th floor to its twelve-story Chicago headquarters on Michigan Avenue. First revealed this summer, the vertical expansion is ready to move forward after it scoring its first construction permit last week.

Healy, Bender & Associates

The project represents a second height increase for the 1962 building at 430 N. Michigan Avenue. It was bumped from its original 10 stories to 12 in 1991. The latest expansion, designed by Chicago area architecture firm Healy, Bender & Associates, will include a circular, glass-walled conference room overlooking the Mag Mile. The addition will grow the structure’s overall footprint by roughly 18,000 square feet.

If all goes to plan, the Realtors Building’s new crown will be complete in late 2019. Work will then focus on renovating the office floors below. The Realtors’ $45 million overhaul is directly across the street from Chicago’s landmarked Tribune Tower, which is undergoing a major renovation of its own from office space to 163 luxury condominiums.

The National Association of Realtors had initially floated a proposal to knock down their namesake tower—located just north of the iconic Wrigley Building—and redevelop the site into a public plaza with a new mixed-use skyscraper to the immediate west. The new high-rise never materialized and a retail complex is rumored for the neighboring parcel at 443 N. Wabash Avenue.

• Renovation/alteration permit at 430 N. Michigan Avenue [Chicago Cityscape]
• Realtor Building tapped for big makeover, vertical expansion [Curbed Chicago]
• Previous Magnificent Mile coverage [Curbed Chicago]