Skender Completes Chicago Office Tower Renovation – Commercial Property Executive

Skender has introduced the completion of the capital enchancment program at 225 W. Wacker Drive, a 615,000-square-foot Class A workplace tower in Chicago. Cushman & Wakefield was in command of administration and represented the property’s proprietor, Spear Road Capital.

In accordance with CommercialEdge, Spear Road bought the 31-story constructing in 2020 for $210 million. The corporate appointed Skender as the overall contractor of three completely different building tasks on the property, together with upgrades to the decrease foyer and Franklin Road entrance, fourth-floor amenity house and roof deck.

Skender labored along with Valerio Dewalt Practice as architect, Kohn Pederson Fox Associates as designer and Oehme Van Sweden because the appointed panorama architect of the rooftop terrace.

Challenge particulars

The primary part of the renovation targeted on the tower’s tenant amenity flooring, which has been remodeled right into a luxurious house geared up with Skyfold partitions for conferences, high-quality audio and visible gear, inexperienced areas and a commissioned artwork assortment that’s paying tribute to Chicago River, incorporating completely different minerals.

Linked to the property’s fourth-floor inside, the redesigned open terrace options vegetation with drainage and water filtration techniques, curtainwall openings and a brand new vestibule house. Utilizing high-end supplies, the Skender staff additionally redesigned the foyer whereas conserving the house absolutely functioning for workplace tenants.

Wooden was used for the constructing’s flooring, an overhead slab was minimize to attain double-ceiling heights and the tower’s exterior now affords a brand new curtainwall on the Wacker Drive aspect.

The renovation started in 2021 and was largely full by November 2022. The workplace property is now a revitalized asset that may accommodate tenants’ hybrid work wants. The tower has additionally acquired a LEED Recertification, reaching the Gold stage standing as of October 2022, in accordance with USGBC.

Earlier in 2022, Skender, along with JLL Development acted as normal contractors for a 200,000-square-foot workplace constructing in Chicago’s Fulton Market. Accomplished in 13 months, Sterling Bay’s challenge was designed to attain LEED certification. In accordance with a current Industrial Property Government listicle, Illinois had greater than 7.8 million sq. ft of LEED-certified workplace house through the first half of 2022, representing 6.7 p.c of the whole nationwide quantity. Chicago had 7.3 million sq. ft of workplace house that achieved the inexperienced certification, together with a LEED Platinum award.