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ILLINOIS
DELAYS SELLING BELEAGUERED THOMPSON CENTER IN CHICAGO
Illinois Policy Institute/
Noah Shaar
Illinois is again delaying the sale of the
Thompson Center state office building in Chicago, which was neglected
until the state could no longer afford to fix it. The state’s new delay
is to take advantage of zoning changes and in the hope office space
prices rebound. |
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 Oct. 8 was supposed to be the final day Illinois would accept
bids for the James R. Thompson Center, with the sale of the state office
building in downtown Chicago closing by Dec. 31.
Now, Thompson Center bidding will continue until January, with a new closing set
for April 2022.
State leaders since 2017 have looked at selling the office building, repeatedly
counting $200 million to $300 million from that unconsummated sale to balance
state budgets on paper. In the meantime, the state has allowed skylights to leak
and the facilities to decay so there now are over $325 million in repairs
needed.
The James R. Thompson Center – originally named the State of Illinois Center
upon completion in 1985 – has served as a secondary state capitol for Illinois
in the heart of Chicago. State offices employing over 2,200 people occupy 60% of
the Thompson Center’s 1.5 million square feet.
The Thompson Center should be an attractive property. The Clark/Lake CTA stop
for the “L” has an entrance at the Thompson Center. Also, Chicago’s underground
walkway – the Pedway – runs into and out of the Thompson Center. The Thompson
Center’s postmodern design won awards for architect Helmut Jahn with its sleek
glass exterior and an interior with a large, skylit atrium that exposes all 17
stories.
But the cost of fixing years of neglected maintenance have turned the building
into an albatross. Springfield’s increasing pension obligations are consuming
over 25% of the state budget and squeezing out items such as building repairs.
In April 2019, state lawmakers gave up on the building and passed a bill
allowing the property to be sold.
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The sale is now delayed for two developments.
First, the Chicago City Council’s new zoning regulations will allow
developers to replace the Thompson Center with a new office tower
with 2 million square feet of space, much larger than the current
building.
Second, state leaders hope a later bidding date will give Chicago’s
office real estate market more time to recover, according to Greg
Hinz at Crain’s Chicago Business. Office real estate prices lag
pre-pandemic numbers, as many businesses remain remote.
 As the state continues to accept bids on the Thompson Center, state
employees are vacating the building, along with other downtown
offices, and moving to a new building in the West Loop.
“Selling the property provides a unique opportunity to maximize
taxpayer savings, create thousands of union jobs, generate millions
of dollars in real estate taxes to benefit the City of Chicago and
spur economic development,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during a news
conference about the building sale.
There remains a lesson in the Thompson Center’s decay and likely
demolition of an architectural landmark: Illinois can keep spending
greater amounts of money on public pensions while still failing to
stop a $144 billion debt from growing, or it can get its house in
order. |
