Two Chicago-based companies are teaming up to purchase the landmark Jewelers Building, with the door open for a conversion to residential use.
The Prime Group and CRG — the real estate development arm of Clayco — are behind the joint venture. The companies are under contract to purchase the building from Canada-based real estate firm Dorchester, the longtime owner, but there’s no closing date yet, according to CRG.
The firms feel “very certain” they’ll close and acquire the building, Bob Clark, executive chairman and founder of Clayco, told the Sun-Times. He declined to disclose an estimated purchase price.
Ready for their close-up
The Jewelers Building was featured in this 2022 column by the Sun-Times’ Neil Steinberg about a “Highrises” project by Chris Hytha, a then-25-year-old Philadelphia photographer, that presented “stunning high-resolution photographs stitched together from close-up drone shots of grande dame buildings across the country.” Read the story.
The companies are already investing heavily in the Jewelers Building, according to Clark — including design, engineering and exploration of future uses.
The 40-story Jewelers Building, at 35 E. Wacker Drive just south of the Chicago River, was built in the 1920s by Frederick P. Dinkelberg and Joachim Giaver. The classical revival-style building was, at the time of its opening, the tallest building west of New York City.
“We view the Jewelers Building as one of Chicago’s most important historic buildings, and probably in the United States,” Michael Reschke, chairman and chief executive officer of The Prime Group, said in a news release. “We welcome the opportunity to continue to be a good steward of this historic asset and to preserve and maintain the building for decades to come.”
The Jewelers Building has 556,200 rentable square feet and is 70% leased. The joint venture would manage the property.
John Hancock Life Insurance, the lender for the current owner, Dorchester, filed a foreclosure complaint on the property in August 2023, property records show.
The lender said in its complaint that Dorchester did not pay off its mortgage when it matured over the summer, Crain’s Chicago Business reported in November 2023.
CRG had no comment on the foreclosure complaint.
Attempts to reach Dorchester were unsuccessful. John Hancock Life Insurance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Clayco has leased offices in the building since 2010, when it relocated its headquarters from St. Louis to Chicago. Clayco, located on the 27th floor, will become the building’s anchor tenant and expand its offices as part of the transition.
“As soon as I got off the elevator, I was like gaga about the building,” Clark said. “I just fell in love with it.”
The firms are looking “at every option right now” for the Jewelers Building. Clark said they know it works as an office building, but they’d need to secure additional leases for it to stay that way. Building amenities include conference and fitness centers, plus a private parking garage.
“If we decide that it’s going to be an office building, we’re not going to have any trouble leasing it all the way up,” Clark said. “It doesn’t have some of the challenges that a lot of the other buildings have. … It’s on the river, it’s just got great transportation, it’s got parking — it’s got everything.”
There’s a path for residential or hotel conversion, Clark said, “but it’s also an outstanding office building.”
