Chicago Construction News staff writer
Skender has started work on the adaptive reuse of 500 N. Michigan Avenue, converting the 400,000-sq. ft. office tower into 320 residential units on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile.
The project is being developed by Connecticut-based Commonwealth Development Partners and designed by GREC Architects. Completion is targeted for late 2027.
Originally designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed in 1968, the 24-storey tower stands 304 feet at the corner of North Michigan Avenue and East Illinois Street. The redevelopment will convert vacant floors three through 23 into residential units while retaining ground-floor retail space.
A new 25th floor will be added to the top of the building, increasing its height by 17 feet. The new level will include indoor and outdoor amenity space, including a rooftop pool. Level 24 will house mechanical systems, while floors two through five will provide additional amenity space for residents.
Skender’s work includes full interior demolition of the vacant office areas, modernization of elevators throughout the 25 floors and the complete construction of the residential units and amenity spaces.
The project is among the largest office-to-residential conversions currently underway in downtown Chicago as developers and city officials look for ways to address elevated office vacancy while increasing the supply of housing.
“Projects like 500 N. Michigan represent exactly the kind of work Skender was built for,” said Alex Panici, vice-president at Skender.
“Adaptive reuse conversions demand a level of precision, creativity and problem-solving that goes far beyond standard construction, because you’re working with an existing structure that has its own history, quirks and constraints,” he said. “Our teams have deep experience navigating exactly these challenges, from complex MEP retrofits and elevator modernization to phased demolition sequences in buildings that remain occupied.”
Skender said its experience with adaptive reuse and multifamily construction will be central to the project.
The company’s previous conversion work includes 210 N. Peoria, where 89 loft apartments in Chicago’s former Schwinn bicycle factory were converted into mixed-use office and retail space. Skender also transformed a 93-year-old retirement home in Maywood, Ill., into a 100-unit affordable assisted-living facility and converted Elgin Tower, a 1929 Art Deco building formerly used as a bank and office, into 44 market-rate apartments.
At 500 N. Michigan, Skender will apply its Lean construction approach, safety program and integrated field operations to manage the challenges associated with working within an existing high-rise structure while delivering the conversion on schedule and on budget.
The redevelopment will give new life to a prominent Magnificent Mile property while adding hundreds of residential units to Chicago’s downtown core.
