![Metropolitan Tower, Chicago in May 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Metropolitan_Tower%2C_Chicago_in_May_2016.jpg)
The Metropolitan Tower, developed by Metropolitan Properties of Chicago, is a
skyscraper located at 310
S. Michigan Avenue in
Chicago's East
Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District in the
Loop
Loop or LOOP may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live
* Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets
* Loop Mobile, an ...
community area in
Cook County
Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, United States and has been renovated as a
condominium complex with 242 units.
Residences range in size from to .
Penthouses
A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features. The term 'penthouse' originally referred, and som ...
feature 360 degree city views and private elevators. Prices run from $300,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $1.365 million for a three-bedroom. The Metropolitan Tower was also for a time home to a branch of
Chase Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fin ...
. The space now houses a branch of CVS.
History
Designed by
Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Graham, Anderson, Probst & White (GAP&W) was a Chicago architectural firm that was founded in 1912 as Graham, Burnham & Co. This firm was the successor to D. H. Burnham & Co. through Daniel Burnham's surviving partner, Ernest R. Graham, and Burnh ...
, the Metropolitan Tower was named the Straus Building when completed in 1924. Though it was the first building in Chicago with 30 or more floors, it was never officially designated
Chicago's tallest building since the
Chicago Temple Building, also completed in 1924, is taller by but has seven fewer floors.
The Straus Building and the Chicago Temple Building were the first to take advantage of the 1923
zoning
Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
ordinance; before then, no building in Chicago could be taller than .
The Metropolitan Tower was at one time called the
Continental National Insurance Company Building (later Continental Center I). From 1980 to 2004 it was called the
Britannica Building when that company was its tenant.
Characteristics, past and present
This 30 story building, standing at in height, fronts Chicago's
Michigan Avenue and
Grant Park. The
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
at the top of the building (which Schulze & Harrington, authors of ''Chicago's Famous Buildings'', compare with the
Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus), with its new zinc-coated stainless steel sheathing, is peaked by a glass "beehive" ornament containing a blue glass box filled with six 1000-watt lightbulbs which emits a deep blue light, a prominent feature of Chicago's nighttime
skyline
A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land.
City skyline ...
.
The beehive is supported by four limestone bisons.
Because of this ornament, the building is sometimes referred to as the "Beehive Building."
Just beneath the beehive are four
carillon bells ranging in weight from 1,500 to 7,000 pounds, unused for many years until restored in 1979 for the
Chicago visit of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
.
At one time, the bells chimed the well-known
Cambridge Quarters on the quarter-hours. The base has been altered from its original design: rectangular window openings replaced giant arches on Michigan Avenue and Jackson Boulevard. At one time, the thirtieth floor was the Straus Tower Observatory, which was open to the public for viewing the city.
The original main entrance was a pair of elaborately carved bronze doors set in a marble portal flanked by
bas-reliefs
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
and used to be in the center of the east side, through the largest of the archways.
In 2007, the building was converted into 234 condominium units. In 2009, the Metropolitan Tower won a "Best Adaptive Reuse" award from the Friends of Downtown, a planning and urban design organization for downtown Chicago.
Amenities include: 24 hour lobby and maintenance staff; on-site management staff; deeded indoor parking; Amazon package deliver lockers; contractors storage area for remodeling projects; two hotel type guest suites; workout facilities with sauna, steam, and showers; children's playroom; extra storage opportunities and imagination rooms; and a two story event/party room with adjacent access to a rooftop garden deck including an outdoor grill and dining area for entertaining guests, with views of Millennium Park and Navy Pier Fireworks.
Symbolism
The original owner of the Metropolitan Tower was S. W. Straus and Company, a dealer of investment bonds and one of the leading financers of major real estate in Chicago during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
The tower's crown has many symbols for characteristics the company wanted to portray. The pyramid symbolized longevity and permanence and the beehive stood for industry and thrift. When first installed, the beehive also contained four directional beacons, a metaphor for the company's global reach. The pyramid is supported by the four bisons, a traditional symbol for the American West. Straus was hoping to use these symbols to instill trust in their customers, to reassure them that their investments would be handled actively and carefully by an institution that could be trusted over the long term. Ironically, the firm failed during the
Great Depression and closed fewer than ten years after lighting the beacon.
Area
The Metropolitan Tower is located a block from the entrance to the
Art Institute and is within two blocks of stations for all downtown
CTA train lines. The
Symphony Center
Symphony Center is a music complex located at 220 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Chicago Symphony Chorus; Civic Orchestra of Chicago; and the Institute for Learning, Access, and ...
,
Millennium Park
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center nea ...
,
Harold Washington Library
The Harold Washington Library Center is the central library for the Chicago Public Library System. It is located just south of the Loop 'L', at 400 S. State Street in Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a full-service library and is ...
, and the
Lake Michigan shore are within a half mile. The south end of the
Magnificent Mile
The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is an upscale section of Chicago's Michigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side. The district is located within downtown, and one block ...
shopping district is less than a mile away. Dozens of fine restaurants and other eateries are in the neighborhood, and
Grant Park is across the street.
[ Google Earth]
Position in Chicago's skyline
Metropolitan Tower appears in front of
Chase Tower (Chicago)
Chase Tower, located in the Chicago Loop area of Chicago, in the U.S. state of Illinois at 10 South Dearborn Street, is a 60-story skyscraper completed in 1969. At 850 feet (259 m) tall, it is the eleventh-tallest building in Chicago and the tall ...
in the diagram below.
References
External links
Original floor plans from ''Architectural Forum'' (1924)
{{coord, 41, 52, 41.01, N, 87, 37, 28.65, W, display=title
Buildings and structures completed in 1924
Residential skyscrapers in Chicago
Residential condominiums in Chicago
Chicago school architecture in Illinois
1924 establishments in Illinois