7 minute read
It’s back baby
from CCR Issue 8
ISSUE 7, 2021
ALSO COVERING LOCAL, STATE & REGIONAL PROJECTS AND FACILITIES
It’s back baby
Built in 1921, the Old Chicago Post Office was once the largest of its kind in the world, capable of handling 19 million pieces of mail each day. But in 2016, after sitting vacant for nearly two decades, the building underwent the largest historic redevelopment in the nation to serve as one of Chicago’s business hubs.
The building is a testament to increased health and wellness efforts thanks to products like Sloan touch-free restroom fixtures that current tenants such as Walgreens, Uber and Home Chef are able to enjoy. Tackling such a major overhaul and bringing an architectural icon back to life requires a major effort—and BEAR Construction Company was up to the task. Founded in 1984, the Illinois-based company focuses on every aspect of construction—with the help of over 200 full-time professionals— with specialties ranging from interiors and industrial special projects to healthcare and new construction. We sat down with BEAR EVP Scott J. Kurinsky to discuss the unique opportunities and challenges that went into restoring 2.5 million square feet of historic real estate. What were the challenges of modernizing a 100-year-old icon?
Looking back, it really ended up being a four-phased approach. The first phase pertained to safety, addressing a court order filed by the City of Chicago to ensure that the building was not an imminent danger to the public. We had to bring temporary power and water into the building, safeguard over 2,000 holes in the floor, bring back three of the 50 abandoned elevators into operation, replace 2,200 exterior windows, and much more. Phase 2 was about building confidence where we restored and repaired areas including the main historic lobby and its
marble floors and plaster ceilings. These restorations were all subject to historical review and approval by both Illinois and Federal agencies. Phase 3 was to maintain momentum with new systems such as HVAC, fire protection, life safety, plumbing, and more. Finally, phase four was to deliver. After the first lease was signed, and growing interest in the property developed, ownership was ready to continue improving base-building amenities such as over 150 restrooms, a full-service fitness center, a food hall, and more. Were there any unforeseen challenges?
Simply put, the building was a disaster at first. Seventy years of use and two vacant decades of neglect and lack of utilities resulted in tremendous amounts of decay, mold, and water damage. It was filled with asbestos coatings, and lead paint lined nearly every surface including the ceilings and remaining mechanical equipment. Not to mention, the building straddles the eightlane Eisenhower Expressway, 40 active AMTRAK rail lines, and the Chicago River. However, many of the challenges of the project are the things you cannot see—the amount of debris that had to be airlifted off the roof, identifying the stability and support of the structure throughout, working with the Historical Preservation group to maintain sightlines and height lines, and restoring new domestic water service to 100-year-old main lines below the train tracks were a few. One of the project’s most challenging aspects was boring 80 feet below and across the Chicago River to connect the Old Post Office to a central cooling station that provides efficient chilled water to many of Chicago’s buildings.
How did you work to preserve the initial design and golden bronze interior aesthetic that has become synonymous with the building?
The Gensler Chicago team was at the helm of the design and worked directly with ownership to restore the historical art deco behemoth with a modern flair. They methodically surveyed the space before construction began to assess items that could be salvaged, restored, or reused. These items range from mosaic tile floors and plaster ceilings to transforming vaults, conveyors, mail chutes, and scales into the design you see today. As the general contractor for the building, we were there to assist in bringing their vision to light and delivering the final product.
How did you seek to incorporate the restroom into those overall design goals?
Restrooms were a significant challenge to the project for several reasons. First, while Gensler developed early plans based on best practices and code requirements, due to the extremely large and unusual floor plates of the building, it was difficult to predict how the facility would eventually lease up and be divided. We also wanted to take the iconic golden bronze that has been a hallmark of the building since its inception in the 1920s and extend it into the restroom. Sloan
commercial restroom fixtures with Polished Brass special finishes helped to deliver an eye-catching aesthetic with a touch of gold.
How big of a part did health and wellness play into the retrofit?
Health and wellness are a major priority in the modern workplace and central to the Old Chicago Post Office project. While the project was completed just before COVID-19 hit, we wanted to provide tenants with a space they can feel safe in. For example, the restroom has a number of potential “hightouch” surfaces and Sloan helped to eliminate those touchpoints with its touch-free products. Providing everything from touchfree faucets and matching soap dispensers to flushometers, tenants experience a very hygiene-friendly restroom experience.
Where else in the building does this element of health and wellness extend to?
As we installed all new MEP systems into the building, we already met or exceeded the highest quality HVAC standards to filter the air circulating through the offices and provide variable levels of fresh, outdoor air on demand. The expansive 3.5-acre rooftop meadow allows building occupants to enjoy outdoor, socially distanced space whenever they like, and another exterior plaza recently completed at street level provides nearly an additional acre of serene outdoor space adjacent to the Chicago River. These types of outdoor amenities are not only gorgeous, but virtually impossible to find elsewhere in the heart of the city. Due to the owner’s forward thinking, these areas were not only planned, but mostly complete and available to tenants when COVID turned our world upside down. But with the start of the pandemic, we also worked closely with ownership to develop pre-built office spaces that took COVID, and frankly any other infectious diseases, into consideration with a flexible density plan—meaning that businesses can scale up or scale down how many people are in the office based on the threat level of COVID flares, or even just the seasonal flu. What trends are defining the industry right now?
There has been a shift in building amenities—what started as a trend, has now become an expectation, and we see owners willing to take a financial risk because it will ease the transition back to the office. Amenity spaces were once a small 1,200-squarefoot fitness room in the basement of a building, but they have transformed into full-floor plates encompassing full-service fitness facilities, conferencing centers, lounges, and outdoor roof decks.
As a result of the pandemic, we have seen an increased focus on air monitoring and filtration systems. The HVAC systems in office buildings, hotels, and healthcare facilities have always been critically important, but COVID has sparked even greater interest in these systems across all markets. BEAR is an expert in advanced MERV filtration, often used primarily in healthcare settings, and we are seeing a greater investment from ownership groups across the board in areas like commercial and residential real estate to implement additional air monitoring and filtration systems beyond previous standards.
How does the company’s strategy fit into those trends?
We see ourselves not just as general contractors or a construction company, but as true partners and strategic advisors to our clients. Since we work in so many markets with so many varied clients, we see trends that we work to implement for our clients across the entire development team from leasing agents and owners, to
property managers and architects to deliver a successful project.
What is the best piece of advice you could offer when undergoing a retrofit on a 100-year-old building?
BEAR’s philosophy is to always put its client’s needs first, no matter the project size or type. By communicating openly with our clients from the outset, we’re able to assess their goals and pain points. Armed with this knowledge, we can chart a course that maximizes on those goals and minimizes or eliminates the problems. Specifically, on the renovation, the owner’s goals often were calendar-driven milestones to deliver certain areas of the building that were often feeding into key leasing or finance activities. Prioritizing those areas allowed us to meet each milestone, and I am proud to say that all were delivered on time, all while other work continued seamlessly in the background. The success of our efforts is evidenced in the building being over 80% pre-leased upon completion in late 2019 with multiple awards and accolades. FC
