Lumber Exchange Building and Tower Addition | |
 Roanoke Building from west along Madison | |
  Location of Roanoke Building in the Chicago Loop area | |
| Location | 11 SouthLaSalle Street Chicago, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°52′53.7″N87°37′56.4″W / 41.881583°N 87.632333°W /41.881583; -87.632333 |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1915 |
| Architect | Holabird & Roche |
| Architectural style | Portuguese Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 07001238[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 6, 2007 |
| Designated CL | December 12, 2007 |
11 South LaSalle Street Building orEleven South LaSalle Street Building (formerlyRoanoke Building and Tower and originallyLumber Exchange Building and Tower Addition or simply theRoanoke Building andLumber Exchange Building) is aChicago Landmark building that is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places and that is located at 11 SouthLaSalle Street in theLoopcommunity area ofChicago, Illinois,United States. This address is located on the southeast corner of LaSalle and Madison Street inCook County, Illinois, across the Madison Street from theOne North LaSalle Building. The building sits on a site of a former Roanoke building (once known asMajor Block 2) that once served as aNational Weather Service Weather Forecast official climate site and replacedMajor Block 1 after theGreat Chicago Fire. The current building has incorporated the frontage of other buildings east of the original site of Major Block 1.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (under the name Lumber Exchange Building and Tower Addition) on December 6, 2007,[1][2] and named a Chicago Landmark on December 12, 2007.[3] It incorporates the lands of the former DeSoto Building and former Farwell Hall.[4] The building was renovated to become the world's largestResidence Inn in 2015.
A four-story Major Block 1 building, designed by T. V. Widskier, sat on this location until the Great Chicago Fire. After the fire, this was replaced with the Major Block 2, which eventually became known as the Roanoke Building. Major Block 2 stood from 1872 to 1912 as a seven-story building on spreadfoundations. It was designed by Dixon & Hamilton and had a length of 136 feet (41.5 m) along South LaSalle Street and a width of 66 feet (20.1 m) along West Madison Street. A commonly published illustration of this building shows it as a five-story building.[4] From June 8, 1873, to January 1, 1887, the original Roanoke building served as the Chicago location for the National Weather Service Weather Forecast official climate site.[5] The building is mentioned inSaul Bellow'sMore Die of Heartbreak but there it is referred to as a wealthy residence building and not as an office building.[6]
The current building was designed in three phases: in 1915Holabird & Roche's design for the first 16 floors was built, and five floors were added in 1922. It was built originally as the sixteen-story high Lumber Exchange Building and later renamed as the 11 South LaSalle Street Building. The Holabird & Roche design had threebasements and rockcaissons.[4] The original 16-floor building was a lateChicago school commercial building that incorporatedarches at both the fourth and the top floor, but when the top five floors were added in 1922 under the originalcornice, the top rank of arches disappeared.[7] The building uses darkterra cotta withitalianate designs.[8] The vaulted ceiling and marble wall lobby contribute to what is described as a classical entrance and lobby.[8] ThePalladian entrance uses contrasting white varigated and blackmarble.[8]
In 1925,[9] the building was built to its current 35 story height by the addition of an adjacent tower to the east of the Madison street frontage.[7] The entire building contains 330,000 square feet (31,000 m2).[10] The 36-story tower was added east of the original structure on the site of the former DeSoto Building at 125-129 West Madison.[4] The tower was an early example of the use ofsetbacks and it uses ranks of paired windows.[7] When the Tower was built, fourbronzebells were cast by the Meneely Bell Company (the secondMeneely Bell Foundry) and installed as a clock-chime. They were set tochime an original composition called "Samheim", which isNorse for "Tomorrow", every quarter-hour.[11] The largest of these bells weighs 7,201 pounds (3,266 kg; 514.4 st)[12] and is inscribed with the name "Leander" in honor ofLeander McCormick.[13] The current Roanoke building is the city's only example of a building in the style ofPortuguese Gothic architecture.[14] According to the press release from the city announcing the landmark promotion, the building'sterra cotta ornamentation is derived from Portuguese Gothic precedents.[3] The building was modernized in the 1950s and went through apostmodern renovation in 1984 to evoke the original ornamentation.[7] The building has the samefrontage as the original Roanoke building plus that of the former Farewell Hall (built byWilliam W. Boyington at 131-3 West Madison Street).[4]
From 1920 until 1969 the building hosted the offices of the law firmSidley & Austin.[15] Today the building is leased by small service industry firms, such as second-floor tenant Thomas P. Gohagan & Co., which arranges travel trips and tours for non-profit organizations.[10]
The building is undergoing renovation to the lobby, thefaçade, theelevators and the exterior lighting.[10] The recent National Register listing has made the renovation feasible by making the building eligible for federaltax credits and reducedproperty taxes.[16] The building qualified for the landmark Class L tax status,[17] which makes it eligible for twelve years of reduced property taxes and other economic incentives for repair and rehab of historic buildings[18] In order to perform the renovation the owners took out a $43.3 million loan against the property according toForm 8-K filings with theU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[19] Its National Registered Historic Places announcement listed it under the name "Lumber Exchange Building and Tower Addition" although its Chicago Landmark listing is under the name "Roanoke Building and Tower."[1]
In October 2006, Michael Reschke bought the Roanoke building and he refinanced it in 2007.[20] In 2009, Reschke announced plans to convert the building into a high-end hotel.[21] In April 2012, Michael Silberberg-led Berkley Properties LLC appeared to have bought the Roanoke Building from KBS Capital Advisors LLC with plans to convert the building into a hotel.[22] However, financing difficulties caused the plans to be caught up in legal proceedings within a month.[23] By January 2014, Reschke had prevailed in a legal battle and secured financing for a $68 million construction loan to convert the building into aResidence Inn.[24] In late 2014, the city approved a $13.8 million, 12-year property tax incentive for rehabilitating historic elements of the building, adding agreen roof, and converting the building to a Residence Inn.[25] On September 21, 2015, the building opened for business as the largest Residence Inn in the world with 380 rooms and 7500 square feet of meeting space after $136 million in renovations over two years.[26] On November 10, 2015, Residence Inn celebrated its 40th anniversary during the 100th year of the building's existence at this location, which was its 700th location.[27]
At 11 S. LaSalle St., the Roanoke Building and Tower was designed in stages between 1915 and 1925 by architects Holabird & Roche andAndrew Rebori. The building's terra cotta ornamentation is derived from unusual Portuguese Gothic precedents.
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