A landmark Chicago skyscraper that once dominated the city’s financial district is gaining a new lease of life as a residential tower, reflecting a growing movement to preserve and repurpose historic buildings rather than replace them.
Located at 105 W. Adams Street in the heart of Chicago’s Loop, the Clark Adams Building is being converted into a 400-unit residential tower. Also known as the Bankers Building, the 41-story Art Deco high-rise was the tallest building in the city’s financial district when it was completed in 1927.
Designed by the Burnham Brothers, the architectural firm led by the sons of renowned architect Daniel H. Burnham, the building occupies a prominent place in Chicago’s architectural history. The tower is described as combining “the verticality of an Art Deco-style skyscraper with a traditional program of Classical ornament at its base” in a report by the Chicago city government…