Pittsfield Building

Pittsfield Building
Pittsfield Building
	The Pittsfield Building as seen from the northeast
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General information
Type	Office
Location	55 E. Washington St.; Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41°52′59″N 87°37′33″W / 41.8830°N 87.6257°W
Completed	1927
Height
Roof	551 ft (168 m)
Technical details
Floor count	38
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Chicago Landmark
Designated	November 6, 2002

The Pittsfield Building, is a 38-story skyscraper located at 55 E. Washington Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, that was the city's tallest building at the time of its completion.^[1]^[2] The building was designated as a Chicago Landmark on November 6, 2002.^[1]

History

The property was developed by heirs of Marshall Field, and is named after Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Marshall Field obtained his first job.^[3] While it is located in the Jewelers' Row Landmark District, the original design and occupancy was for medical & dental professionals, including offices, laboratories, and medical supplies.^[4] The nearby Burnham Center, at the intersection of Clark Street and Washington Street, was originally named the Conway Building after Conway, Massachusetts—the birthplace of Marshall Field.^[5] Marshall Field III presented the property as a gift to the Field Museum of Natural History in honor of the museum's 50th anniversary in 1944. The museum held the property until September 1960 when the museum sold it.^[3]

Architecture

Designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, the structure combines both art deco and Gothic detailing, while complying with a 1923 zoning ordinance which mandated skyscrapers setbacks.^[3] The interior of the building features a five-story atrium, lined by balconies and shops, that is detailed with glowing marbles, gleaming brass and Spanish Gothic style carvings.^[1]^[2]

Today

Alter Group, a Skokie, Illinois-based real estate developer has acquired the thirteenth through twenty-first floors of the building with plans for dormitory conversion at a cost of $23 million (about $173 per square foot). It will finance the $45-million renovation costs with a $36-million loan from First bank and has entered lease agreements with Roosevelt University and Robert Morris University for 350 of the planned 450 beds. Morgan Reed Group who acquired the entire building for $15 million in 2000 continues to own the remaining portions of the building. The building is used mostly by doctors, dentists and jewelers and students will have a separate entry under the plans.^[6]

The building now has two separate short term rental operations, one known as Chicago Downtown Suites or Pangea Suites, the other as Pittsfield Suites. Both are offered on travel websites such as Expedia^[7] and Travelocity. The student dormitory (Fornelli Hall) that formerly occupied the 13th to 21st floors no longer operates at this address.

As of 2023, the building has been surrounded by scaffolding for at least 5 years.

Position in Chicago's skyline

<imagemap> File:Chicago_skyline_labelled.jpg|1280px|alt=The skyline of a city with many large skyscrapers; in the foreground is a green park and a lake with many sailboats moored on it. Over 30 of the skyscrapers and some park features are labeled.

poly 181 773 388 226 490 260 278 812 311 South Wacker poly 638 633 793 235 892 273 730 671 Willis Tower poly 691 957 1058 19 1169 57 794 1001 Chicago Board of Trade Building poly 937 1076 1143 543 1040 508 836 1034 111 South Wacker poly 1061 782 1345 61 1447 101 1157 822 AT&T Corporate Center poly 1182 1034 1516 193 1621 233 1289 1076 Kluczynski Federal Building poly 1518 870 1669 490 1771 529 1619 910 333 South Wabash poly 1957 827 2129 409 2234 450 2058 874 Chase Tower poly 2153 940 2470 160 2569 197 2254 981 Three First National Plaza poly 2363 967 2635 283 2735 319 2466 1001 Mid-Continental Plaza poly 2550 913 2835 199 2936 238 2651 950 Richard J. Daley Center poly 2668 993 3037 65 3142 104 2770 1034 Chicago Title and Trust Center poly 2944 941 3135 429 3234 465 3045 982 77 West Wacker poly 3077 939 3296 380 3400 424 3175 981 Pittsfield Building poly 3168 1058 3423 413 3529 454 3271 1098 Leo Burnett Building poly 3327 1018 3723 19 3830 61 3430 1058 The Heritage at Millennium Park poly 3577 1062 3862 365 3970 406 3681 1107 Crain Communications Building poly 3771 1044 3897 726 3996 765 3873 1085 IBM Plaza poly 3998 793 4260 145 4356 180 4097 835 One Prudential Plaza poly 4156 705 4413 61 4513 98 4255 746 Two Prudential Plaza poly 4394 484 4548 104 4649 147 4497 530 Aon Center poly 4698 993 5085 13 5193 54 4810 1038 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Tower poly 4947 790 5142 280 5243 320 5048 834 340 on the Park poly 5179 945 5326 575 5428 616 5284 990 Park Tower poly 5377 775 5563 282 5669 322 5479 819 Olympia Centre poly 5448 961 5701 326 5808 367 5557 1010 900 North Michigan poly 5688 745 5952 71 6056 110 5786 788 875 North Michigan Avenue poly 5735 938 5974 346 6072 388 5833 983 Water Tower Place poly 6013 977 6183 550 6292 589 6119 1022 Harbor Point poly 6139 1000 6325 526 6429 563 6241 1041 The Parkshore poly 6573 1085 6861 383 6972 425 6679 1134 North Pier Apartments poly 7093 1049 7307 495 7428 540 7208 1098 Lake Point Tower rect 4210 1656 4889 1767 Jay Pritzker Pavilion rect 2803 1652 3561 1768 Buckingham Fountain rect 0 1662 2722 1779 Lake Michigan rect 3620 1663 4112 1779 Lake Michigan rect 4946 1661 7492 1779 Lake Michigan

desc none </imagemap>

Notes

^ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Pittsfield Building". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
^ ^2.0 ^2.1 Kamin, Blair (February 28, 2006). "The list gets longer on shortcuts". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
^ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 "Pittsfield Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on December 28, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Fuller, Ernest (1959-02-07). "Pittsfield Building". chicagology.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
^ "Burnham Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 10, 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Gallun, Alby, "Pittsfield to get college dormitory," Crain's Chicago Business, p. 16, January 28, 2008.
^ "https://www.expedia.ca/Chicago-Hotels-Downtown-Suites.h19698510.Hotel-Information

[ChiLandmark-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 "Pittsfield Building". City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, Landmarks Division. 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2007-08-04.

[Tribune-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Kamin, Blair (February 28, 2006). "The list gets longer on shortcuts". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2007-08-05.

[Pittsfield-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 "Pittsfield Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on December 28, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[4] Fuller, Ernest (1959-02-07). "Pittsfield Building". chicagology.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-10-04.

[Burnham-5] "Burnham Center". Emporis. Archived from the original on September 10, 2004. Retrieved 2007-08-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

[6] Gallun, Alby, "Pittsfield to get college dormitory," Crain's Chicago Business, p. 16, January 28, 2008.

[7] "https://www.expedia.ca/Chicago-Hotels-Downtown-Suites.h19698510.Hotel-Information

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v t e Chicago skyscrapers
Tallest buildings	875 North Michigan Avenue (formerly John Hancock Center) Aon Center Franklin Center St. Regis Chicago Trump International Hotel and Tower Two Prudential Plaza Willis Tower
Selected buildings with 20 or more floors	35 East Wacker 55 East Erie 71 South Wacker 77 West Wacker 110 North Wacker 111 South Wacker 151 North Franklin 155 North Wacker 181 West Madison 311 South Wacker 330 North Wabash 333 North Michigan 333 South Wabash (formerly CNA Center) 333 Wacker Drive 340 on the Park 400 East Randolph 401 East Ontario 425 South Financial Place 541 North Fairbanks Court (formerly Time-Life Building) 540 West Madison 860-880 Lake Shore Drive 900 North Michigan 900 West Randolph 1700 East 56th Street Accenture Tower Aqua Bilandic Building The Blackstone Hotel BCBS Tower Boeing Building Builders Building Carbide & Carbon Building Chase Tower Chicago Board of Trade Building Chicago Place Chicago Temple Building City Hall Square Building Civic Opera House Coast at Lakeshore East Consumers Building Crain Communications Building Dirksen Federal Building Essex on the Park Field Building Fisher Building Grant Thornton Tower Harbor Point Hilton Chicago Home Insurance Building James R. Thompson Center Joffrey Tower Kluczynski Federal Building Lake Point Tower LaSalle–Wacker Building Legacy Tower Leo Burnett Building London Guarantee Building Lurie Children's Hospital Marina City Masonic Temple Mather Tower Metropolitan Tower Montauk Building NBC Tower NEMA Northwestern Memorial Hospital Olympia Centre One Bennett Park One Magnificent Mile One Museum Park One North LaSalle One North Wacker One Prudential Plaza Optima Signature Palmer House Hotel Palmolive Building Park Tower The Parkshore Peoples Gas Building Pittsfield Building Plaza 440 Powhatan Apartments Presidential Towers Regents Park Richard J. Daley Center River East Center Roanoke Building The Shoreham Skybridge Shirley Ryan AbilityLab The Buckingham The Fordham The Heritage The Grant The Pinnacle Three First National Plaza Tribune Tower Virgin Hotels Chicago Waldorf Astoria Chicago Warwick Allerton Water Tower Place Wolf Point East Tower Wrigley Building
Chicago Landmark skyscrapers with 12 or more floors	300 West Adams Building The Arc at Old Colony Auditorium Building Brooks Building Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel Chicago Building Gage Group Buildings Heyworth Building Hilliard Towers Apartments Inland Steel Building Manhattan Building Marquette Building Marshall Field and Company Building Monadnock Building Mundelein College Skyscraper Building New York Life Insurance Building Reliance Building Rookery Building Sullivan Center
See also	Architecture Art Deco Chicago City Hall Chicago School Washington Block
Buildings in italics have been demolished.

v t e Chicago Landmark skyscrapers
National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places, Chicago Landmark	The Arc at Old Colony Auditorium Building Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building Chicago Board of Trade Building Fisher Building Manhattan Building Marquette Building Marshall Field and Company Building Monadnock Building Reliance Building Rookery Building
National Register of Historic Places, Chicago Landmark	860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments Gage Group Buildings Mundelein College Skyscraper Building One North LaSalle Palmolive Building The Blackstone Hotel Roanoke Building and Tower
Chicago Landmark	330 North Wabash 333 North Michigan 35 East Wacker Allerton Hotel Brooks Building Bryn Mawr Apartment Hotel Carbide & Carbon Building Chicago Building Civic Opera House Heyworth Building Inland Steel Building London Guarantee Building Mather Tower New York Life Insurance Building The Palmer House Hilton Powhatan Apartments Pittsfield Building Richard J. Daley Center Tribune Tower Virgin Hotels Chicago
See also	Washington Block

History

Architecture

Today

Position in Chicago's skyline

See also

Notes