Tall & Urban News

Chicago Opens the Door to More Branded High-Rise Signage

22 April 2021 | Chicago, United States
A move by the Chicago City Council may allow for more branded signs atop office high-rises, like the one planned at BMO Tower. The signage would be limited to the building's top. (c) Goettsch Partners.
A move by the Chicago City Council may allow for more branded signs atop office high-rises, like the one planned at BMO Tower. The signage would be limited to the building's top. (c) Goettsch Partners.

Chicago’s skyline could be in for changes after the city passed rules that could allow more signs on some office towers.

The rules, which would allow companies to have a second sign under certain circumstances, were approved in March 2021 by the City Council. At least one company, BMO Financial Group, is already planning to capitalize on revisions to the city’s sign ordinance when it moves into its 50-story namesake tower under construction alongside Union Station in 2022.

Large signs have been a sore subject for many Chicagoans ever since 20-foot-tall (6-meter-tall) letters spelled out T-R-U-M-P on Trump International Hotel & Tower in 2014.

The new rules would only affect office buildings, and the changes would be limited to the top of towers.

“It will be done in a tasteful way,” Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar said. “We’re not looking to turn downtown Chicago into a billboard.”

The ordinance comes as Chicago tries to bounce back from the economic effects of COVID-19, which left downtown with a record amount of vacant office space at the end 2020.

After a year of offices all but shutting down, there was a record 21.4 million square feet (1.9 million square meters) of unwanted space, according to CBRE, creating one of the biggest challenges downtown Chicago has faced.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration says the signage rules provide an extra incentive for corporations considering relocating to or expanding in Chicago, and they’re likely to affect just a few buildings.

“Especially as we recover from the pandemic, we want to stay very engaged with the corporate community on issues that can make Chicago more attractive to continue that growth,” Mayekar said. “We felt that corporate identity should be able to be part of the skyline, if it fits within our planning and design guidelines.

“We have what I think is the most beautiful skyline in the world, so we have to make sure there are tight guidelines around that to protect the aesthetics of our downtown.”

The Trump Tower sign led to city regulations for signs, including restrictions on large signs close to the ground. Those rules were passed soon after the sign went up in 2014.

In 2018, under then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the city eased some sign restrictions to allow Salesforce to place a sign atop its 60-story namesake tower that’s being built along the river on the Wolf Point site.

Those rules allow companies to have signs as large as 1,100 square feet (102 square meters), depending on how high up on a tower they are placed. To be eligible, a company must occupy at least 350,000 square feet (32,516 square meters) or 51 percent of the total space in a building, and the firm must employ more than 1,000 people there.

The latest changes to the rules, which were proposed by Lightfoot, permit a second sign if a tenant leases at least 450,000 square feet (41,806 square meters) or 60 percent of a building. The company also must have its international or national headquarters, including its CEO, based in the building. That means Salesforce Tower does not qualify for a second sign.

Toronto-based BMO Financial is eligible, since the Chicago tower will be the US headquarters, led by US CEO Dave Casper.

BMO plans two signs at the top of the 50-story tower, one facing west and the other facing south, spokesman Patrick O’Herlihy said. That will maximize the signs’ visibility from the Eisenhower and Dan Ryan expressways, he said.

BMO plans to move more than 3,000 workers to the skyscraper in spring 2022, from three office buildings in the Loop. BMO has leased 500,000 square feet (46,451 square meters)

Construction of BMO Tower topped out earlier this week, and 48 percent of the 1.5 million square feet (139,394 square meters) in BMO Tower is leased, according to Riverside Investment & Development CEO John O’Donnell.

It’s unclear whether other eligible tenants will seek a second sign under the new rules.

Companies that would qualify include Ken Griffin’s Citadel, at 131 S. Dearborn St.; advertising agency Leo Burnett, 35 W. Wacker Drive; investment research firm Morningstar, 22 W. Washington St.; and law firm Sidley Austin, 1 South Dearborn St.

There have been no applications for those buildings thus far, according to the city.

Companies including Boeing, JPMorgan Chase and MillerCoors for years have had two signs that were installed under previous sign regulations.

Many of Chicago’s best-known skyscrapers, such as Willis Tower and the former John Hancock Center, are without high-rise signs.

Developers and office brokers say interest by tenants has picked up in the early part of 2021, as vaccination efforts gain momentum and companies begin plotting a large-scale return of office workers. A few leases and expansions have been completed in recent weeks.

Texas-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. recently leased space in the Fulton Market district and plans to move 250 jobs to the building from Neenah, Wisconsin, next spring. Another 90 office workers will move there from an existing Chicago office.

“I would expect to see more such announcements in the pipeline,” Mayekar said. “We are very bullish on the future of the city.”

For more on this story, go to The Chicago Tribune and Yahoo News.