The Chicago City Council has approved $66 million in tax increment financing for two vacant downtown office buildings to be redeveloped into apartments as part of the city’s LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative.
To complement the public and private investments planned for LaSalle Street, the Chicago Departments of Planning and Development (DPD) and Transportation (CDOT) launched a visioning process in 2024 to examine opportunities for creating a more neighborhood-oriented public realm throughout the corridor.
In January 2025, DPD and CDOT released A Vision for LaSalle Street, a community-led framework for public realm improvements between Wacker Drive and Jackson Boulevard. The vision outlines 11 planning principles to support the influx of residential units and commercial rehabilitation projects in the central Loop.
The vision was informed by hundreds of community members through in-person and online meetings, an electronic survey and outreach through the 34th and 42nd ward offices.
A 2025 CDOT engineering assessment of LaSalle’s physical and structural conditions will help inform the City’s approach to the funding, design and construction of future enhancements.
Funding will come from the LaSalle/Central TIF district and will also include Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits. The approved funding includes $40 million for the Harris Trust and Savings Bank building at 111 W. Monroe St. and $26 million for the Continental and Commercial building at 208 S. LaSalle St.
Twelve floors of the historic Harris Trust and Savings Bank building will be converted from office space to 345 mixed-income residential units, and five floors of the landmark Continental and Commercial building will be converted from office space to 168 mixed-income residential units.
Both projects are part of five selected responses to a Chicago Department of Planning and Development and Department of Housing invitation for proposals to repurpose underutilized LaSalle corridor high-rises.
Don’t miss the Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation and Keynote Interview with Greg Mutz, Chairman & CEO of Amli Residential Partners, LLC and Keynote Interviewer Fred Schreiber, Chief Operating Officer at Connect Midwest Multifamily on June 4, 2025, at The Midland Hotel, Chicago, IL.
