Renderings for the rooftop of the 79 W. Monroe St. project are pictured. [Provided]

Mayor Brandon Johnson and city officials on Thursday celebrated the groundbreaking for the city’s first conversion of office space to residential units under an initiative to reuse vacant commercial space downtown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mayor also used the opportunity to announce a new all-encompassing economic development strategy.

Johnson, Ald. Bill Conway (34), Deputy Mayor of Business and Neighborhood Development Kenya Merritt, Department of Planning and Development Comm. Ciere Boatright, Department of Housing Comm. Lissette Castañeda and project leaders attended the groundbreaking of the project to transform eight floors of the historic Rector Building at 79 W. Monroe St. into 117 housing units, 41 of which would be affordable to households making up to 60 percent of the area median income.

The building is the oldest surviving commercial high-rise designed by noted architect Jarvis Hunt and is adorned with the iconic “Weather Bell” sign from its days having Bell Federal Savings as a tenant. 

A landmark designation for the Rector Building was approved earlier this month to accommodate the $64.2 million project, which is being undertaken by Chicago developer R2 and Lagfin, the holding company of Campari, according to the city. The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2026. 

Related: Zoning committee advances landmark designation for former Bell Federal Savings building 

The mayor said in a news release he was excited at the “bold step” taken Thursday toward increasing affordable housing in the Loop. 

“Chicago has a long history of pioneering innovative architecture projects, and we have repeatedly demonstrated our ability to overcome challenges by reimagining our city for the future,” the mayor said. “The transformation of 79 W. Monroe joins a legacy of projects across the city that honor our history while securing our bright future.” 

Last spring, the mayor announced the city would move forward with seeking more than $151 million in tax increment financing (TIF) funds to assist the completion of four projects, three of which were named finalists for the office-to-housing conversion program, LaSalle Reimagined, under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.   

Related: Johnson will ask City Council to provide TIF dollars to 4 projects proposed under LaSalle Reimagined program

The City Council approved $28 million in TIF funds for the 79 W. Monroe St. project (SO2024-0012437) in October. The project will also include ground-floor retail, a tenant lounge, fitness center, an outdoor area and a dog run.  

“An investment in downtown is an investment in Chicago’s future,” Conway said in the release. “I’m thrilled to support this project at 79 W. Monroe that will strengthen the Loop — not just as a place to work, but to live, eat and visit as well. Adding affordable housing in the heart of our city is a critical step in reimagining the central business district, one that will have a positive impact across Chicago.” 

Conway also introduced a proposed permit fee waiver (Or2025-0015944) at City Council earlier this month for the project. That measure was referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards. 

Other conversion projects being supported by the Johnson administration include 111 W. Monroe St., 208 S. LaSalle St. and 30 N. LaSalle St.  

All in all, the four projects backed by the mayor would amount to a $528 million investment and add more than 1,000 new housing units to the downtown area, with an estimated 319 proposed to be designated as affordable and serve households making 60 percent of the area median income, or $53,000 for a two-person household. 

Boatright has said the four projects collectively would reduce the amount of vacant space in the LaSalle corridor by 1.3 million square feet, which is more than a quarter of the 5 million square feet of vacant space downtown. 

The planning commissioner said Thursday’s groundbreaking represented the success of the mayor’s “Cut the Tape” initiative, which has aimed to make the process for approving and building commercial and residential developments more efficient by eliminating legal and bureaucratic barriers. 

Related: Mayor announces multiple policy changes in wake of Cut the Tape Report, formation of task force to carry out initiative 

“When DPD and DOH launched the LaSalle initiative, we were squarely focused on the future roles of historic office buildings just like this one — where the City could support contemporary uses that maximize their location at the nexus of the city’s transit system, the adaptability of their floor plates to mixed-income housing, and their historic character that makes the Loop so uniquely urban,” Boatright said in a news release. 

But the mayor also used the groundbreaking to announce Build Better Together, which the mayor’s office described as “a comprehensive economic development strategy to drive inclusive and sustainable growth throughout Chicago.” 

The strategy will rely on boosting public-private partnerships and interdepartmental collaboration between the planning, housing, cultural affairs and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection departments as well as with World Business Chicago, according to the mayor’s office. A spokesperson said the strategy will act as a canopy, held up by foundational city efforts such as Cut the Tape and Missing Middle Infill Housing, under which future economic development programs will be housed.

“Build Better Together is a critical next step in our citywide effort to deliver lasting, neighborhood-level economic progress,” Merritt said in a news release. “This encompassing strategy brings cohesion to the work that has been happening across departments … and focuses our efforts on creating meaningful, measurable outcomes in communities that have been overlooked historically.”

In conjunction with the launch of the strategy, the city launched a Build Better Together landing page that will allow Chicagoans to track the progress of all the city's major economic development initiatives under a single umbrella.