Business

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The Sears Tower is the most recognized icon on the Chicago skyline, and now it's getting a new name, CBS station WBBM-TV reports.

The London-based insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. announced Thursday that it is moving in, and the building will be renamed the Willis Tower.

Willis Group is consolidating five local offices in the tower at 233 S. Wacker Dr., with almost 500 employees. Willis' local offices are now spread between 10 S. LaSalle St., 1 E. Wacker Dr., 222 N. Riverside Plaza, and locations in Oak Brook and Lombard.

The Sears Tower opened in 1973, and was the tallest building in the world from its completion until 1996, when it was surpassed by the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.

The building remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.

Sears, Roebuck & Co., now based in Hoffman Estates, has not had offices in the tower since 1992. The company lost its naming rights to the tower in 2003.

"We are proud to add the Willis name to the tower, and welcome the company and its 500 Associates to this premier Chicago address," a news release from Willis quoted John Huston, Executive Vice President of American Landmark Properties, Ltd., part of the real estate investment group that owns the building. "This key new tenant underscores the importance of the building as a destination for successful businesses."

Willis paid $14.50 per square foot for the space, a bargain for downtown Chicago real estate. It will fill 140,000 square feet of space.

"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, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Willis Group Holdings, in a news release on Thursday morning. "We are delighted to be making this bold move and firmly establishing our leading presence in one of the nation's biggest insurance markets, and it will be wonderful for all our Associates to work under one roof."

Willis told Crain's they are not paying extra for the naming rights.

At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Mayor Richard M. Daley said he welcomed the change, and pointed out that Sears has not been in the building for several years.

The owners of the building have attempted to lure tenants with an offer of naming rights before. In 2005, the owners offered naming rights to the computer reselling firm CDW Corp., but the company declined, and decided to expand its offices at 222 S. Riverside Plaza rather than move into the Sears Tower, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

The U.S. Olympic Committee was also offered naming rights to move in, but decided to stay in Colorado instead, Crain's reported.

Recently, the soon-to-be-former Sears Tower also made news when its owners announced a plan to give it a silver paint job over the existing black exterior.

The paint job could cost $50 million or more, but it could also make the building more energy efficient.

The owners of the building might seek a silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating from a group that promotes environmental advancement. The building has already become a leader of large-scale recycling in skyscrapers. 


Facts About The Sears (Willis) Tower:
• The tower was originally planned as two twin towers, half the height of the tower that was ultimately completed. It stands at 1,451 feet.

• The building was designed by chief architect Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan of the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. It is composed of nine bundled steel tubes which rise to varying heights. The TV antennas were added in 1982.

• While the tower lost its claim as the world's tallest building in 1996, if the antennas are included it tops out at 1,730 feet. That made it taller than any other skyscraper until 2007, when developers of the Burj Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, claimed to overtake it.

• Two men have tried to scale the Sears Tower – "Spider" Dan Goodwin in 1981, and Alain Robert in 1999.

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