For Willis Tower, another title has fallen

Willis Tower was robbed of its title as the world’s tallest building in 1996. It lost the title of tallest building in the United States in 2014. It got bumped off of the list of the world’s 10 tallest buildings in 2016.

And now, the 110-story building can’t even hold onto an unofficial title: tallest roof height in the Western Hemisphere.

Construction on New York’s Central Park Tower reportedly just surpassed the Chicago building’s 1,450 feet, New York YIMBY reported Monday. The Central Park Tower is set to hit 1,550 feet when construction is completed sometime next year, according to YIMBY.

Extell, Central Park Tower’s New York-based developer, wouldn’t verify that construction on the luxury condo building has, in fact, topped Willis Tower. But Daniel Safarik, a spokesman at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, said when the New York building’s construction is complete, it will have edged out Willis.

The Chicago-based council maintains rankings on the world’s tallest buildings. It rates buildings in three areas: height to the architectural top; height to the tip and highest occupied floor.

Not officially tracked: height of the roof. Still, Safarik said he can see why losing that unofficial title is important to Chicagoans.

“It’s like, ‘Oh man, another arrow in the side of Willis Tower,’” he said.

And if you’re upset Chicago is losing some bragging rights, you might find solace in knowing Central Park Tower was designed by Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

Willis Tower is owned by Blackstone, a private equity and real estate investment firm, and its Chicago affiliate, Equity Office Properties.

“Willis Tower is and always will be a world-renowned icon,” a spokesman for Equity Office wrote in a statement. “We’re in the midst of the largest transformation in the Tower’s 46-year history.”

A $500 million renovation is underway at the Willis to make the lower levels more accessible to the public. The project includes 300,000 square feet of restaurant, entertainment and retail space, as well as a glass atrium.

Safarik said Willis doesn’t hold any world records that the council formally tracks — and hasn’t for “a long time.” Willis Tower opened in 1973 as Sears Tower and held onto the title of the world’s tallest building until 1996.

“We need to let go,” he said. “It’s [almost] 50 years old.”