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We're having flashbacks to when Marshall Field's became Macy's or when Comiskey Park became U.S. Cellular Field. Forget about that proposed paint job. The Sears Tower, currently the tallest building in the U.S, is due to be renamed Willis Tower. London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. is about to become the tower's largest tenant, taking over 140,000 square feet of space. And that means bragging rights. “Having our name associated with Chicago’s most iconic structure underscores our commitment to this great city, and recognizes Chicago’s importance as a major financial hub and international business center,” said Joseph J. Plumeri, the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. They'll have about 500 employees working in the building when the move is complete.
Willis will be paying $14.50 a square foot but insists they didn't have to chip in anything extra for the name change. The owners of the iconic structure, a group that includes Skokie-based American Landmark Properties Ltd. and New York investors Joseph Chetrit and Joseph Moinian, apparently threw those in to sweeten the deal. Sears itself no longer has offices in the Sears Tower (they moved out in 1992) and lost its rights to the name in 2003.
UPDATE: We stand corrected. The Tower's largest tenant is currently Ernst & Young. However, the accounting firm recently signed a new lease for 203,618 square feet at 155 N. Wacker Drive, a building due to be completed in July.
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Like how we all call it Cloud Gate? Has anyone ever actually called it "US CELLULAR FIELD"?
It's Sears Tower. Will be till it keels over.
Im not nostalgic over the Sears name...their move was a slap in the face to the city while it was going through one of its darker hours.
With that said, the buildings owners must REALLY be desperate for tenants if they are giving naming rights away over 140,000 sq feet (thats like what, a couple floors?) at $14 a square foot. For some comparison, Aon averages around $20 sq ft.
Agreed.
Big Willie. Thats what I'll call it.
In nothing sacred?
New slogan: You can't beat Big Willie on Wacker.
^^
Again, I ask whats sacred about the name of a company which ditched Chicago for a suburban office park 20 years ago and shut down their Loop store during that period). They've showed Chicago ZERO loyalty. And not to mention they will likely go out of business sooner rather than later.
People will call it whatever they want. Heck... I still know people who refer to the Aon Center as the Standard Oil building. Even I'm guilty of still using "Comiskey" or "Sox Park".
Cool. My screen name on Chicagoist makes me all Old School Chicagoan now, giving me additional hipster street cred.
I'm not giving up wearing North Face to Beaumont though, some things are too sacred to change.
@Big Willie
Oh...
@Big Willie
Oh...
i doubt the name will catch on.
I am consistently shocked by how "up in arms" Chicagoans get about things that don't mean anything.
Seriously...not a big deal. I'll start calling it Willis Tower right now. It's their building.
If you move into the old Smith residence because they moved out, does everyone still call it the Smith House?
It's not their building. The ownership did not change. Willis signed a lease to rent out a relatively small portion (3.5%) of the Sears Tower. Why the owners threw in naming rights for almost nothing makes no sense to me.
From this day forth I shall call this building "Cloud Gate", because that is its proper name.
Right?
140,000 square feet is only 3.67% of the 3.81 million total rentable space in that building (according to wikipedia), no one tenant uses more space than that?
Also, some quick googling came up with ~$29 per square foot as the average price in Chicago as of the end of '08, so, that's like half price too.
If you move into the old Smith residence because they moved out, does everyone still call it the Smith House?
Depends. If Ol' Smithy hacked his wife and kids to death in that house, it'll be the spooky Smith house for decades no matter who lives in it. I'm sure kids still drove by "The Amityville Horror House" even though the McGillicuddys lived there afterwards.
check this out. willis!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicagopublicradio/3349589418/?addedcomment=1#comment72157615078210831
I don't think it'll catch on either, and I'm not upset about Sears losing the naming rights, but "the Sears Tower" was a Chicago landmark long before the big Willie went up. I saw some WTTW show that explained that the original hq had a tower, so all the old stores had towers, too- like the one on Lawrence near Damen. Screw Sears, but we are still losing another piece of old Chicago.
I don't think anybody would hold on to the name Sears Tower out of some sense of loyalty. For me, at least, I'm probably going to call it Sears Tower because that's what I've always called it, and I'm too lazy to bother retraining myself to call it by the new name.
Say it ain't so!
I don't give a hoot about Sears, but I don't even associate the Tower with the stores. It's just that the building is named the Sears Tower. That is its name. Like the United Center doesn't make me think of United Airlines (except when I'm there and their logo is all over the place). I don't like when icons change their names.
I for one have no intention of calling it Willis Tower because these British douches are renting a couple floors at bargain basement prices.
Where did the author of this article get information that Willis will be the largest tenant in the Sears Tower? That is not true and makes the name change even more puzzling. The existing tenants cannot be happy that the Sears Tower owners sold out the name so cheaply.
Ernst & Young is leasing 387,000 sq ft of the Sears Tower until 2012 (occupying about 237,000 for itself and subleasing 150,000 to other tenants). That's plenty more space than Willis will occupy.
I am livid over this. The Sears Tower name has as little to do with Sears as the Wrigley Building or Wrigley Field have to do with bubble gum. Hell, I don't care how many names the old Field Building at 135 S. Lasalle or the big slanted building at 20 S. Dearborn go through, but the Sears Tower is a historical icon, much like the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building. The names of historical icons need to be preserved.
I suspect this will backfire on the Tower's owners. The Sears Tower name carries a certain gravitas which hasn't meant much in recent years, but will mean a great deal when/if the economy recovers. After many years of decay, the Empire State Building eventually came back to greatness solely due to its name (and a lot of money from Trunp). Meanwhile on the west coast, nobody remembers what to call that big round building in Los Angeles that keeps switching its name. A certain type of tennent will gravitate to the Sears. They won't even think of the Willis.
What's up with the phallic building themes. I mean, we already have a giant dild... Chicago Spire in the plans and now we have 'Big Willy'. Don't forget the giant Millennium Testicle.
I don't think you read the source article closely enough: "Willis is the largest new tenant to move into Sears Tower since the 2001 terrorist attacks."
As long as I think of it as the Wesley Willis Tower, I'm fine.
Rock over London, Rock on Chicago! Wheaties, Breakfast of Champions!
There's a big difference between what's happening at the Sears/Willis Tower and what happened at Cominsky/US Cellular, Chicago Stadium/United Center, and, of course, Marshall Field's/Macy's.
With the Sears Tower, it is strictly a name change. Since the switch, the Tower is the same inside and out, I don't see how it's any different and it's the same unique experience you can't get anywhere else, save for what the signage. In the case of Cominsky and Chicago Stadium, the old buildings were replaced with completely new buildings. The only thing that would be the same is the name, if they left it.
In the case of Marshall Field's and Macy's, they are in the same buildings but they are not the same stores. The majority of Macy's merchandise is different from Field's. Their service is of a different style and approach, and Macy's themselves have been saying since Fall 2007 that they are gearing their stores towards shoppers other than Field's customers. The thing is, unlike the Sear/Willis tower, Field's was an international destination in our city but Macy's is in 800 locations across the US. If you want to visit the special Macy's, you go to NYC, not Chicago. So that too is a huge loss to our city.
Regarding Field's and Macy's, a recent survey presented at http://www.FieldsFansChicago.org shows that three years later, 78% of Chicago shoppers prefer Field's to Macy's and say they would shop there more if it went back to Marshall Field's. So people are shopping differently since the change to Macy's but few will behave in such a way that costs Willis money. I think the Sears/Willis controversy will lessen but the Macy's controversy will not go away.
Finally, regarding Willis, I know we are supposed to like them because they are giving money to charity and 2016. However, didn't the Sun-Times report that they were getting a huge tax break (courtesy of us tax payers)? If so, I wonder what the net difference is. It may very well be that we are paying for Willis to takeover the Sears.