Development Prior to the development of the State of Illinois Center, many offices of the
government of Illinois were housed at 160 North LaSalle Street. That building was insufficient for the state government's needs, so the state also had to rent space in numerous buildings, paying about $2 million a year.
Planning Governor
Dan Walker initially wanted to build a replacement building on the south end of the Loop. When Walker lost re-nomination in
1976, the developer
Arthur Rubloff, one supporter of Thompson (who was ultimately elected in that election), suggested constructing the building at the north end of the Loop instead. After studying various sites for 27 months, a state agency selected the Sherman House site on March 29, 1978. That August, Thompson signed a bill to allocate $15 million for a new state-government office building on the site of the Sherman House. This move followed a failed attempt earlier that year by the
Illinois General Assembly, the state's legislature, to allocate $11 million for the project; the legislature had provided only $2.5 million. The building was initially expected to cost $85 million. Local architect
Helmut Jahn was hired to design the State of Illinois Center, beating out seven other architects. Jahn called the project a great opportunity, saying that the limited number of stakeholders and the building's full block site gave him a large amount of flexibility with the design. In particular, the fact that the building's sole tenant was the Illinois government meant that they were "less likely to have their egos involved in a project the way [a private] owner is", according to Jahn. By then, the building was to cost $115 million and accommodate 4,200 staff of 54 state agencies after its expected completion in 1983. The construction cost included around $90 million for constructing the building itself, as well as $25 million for furnishings. By early 1981, the site was being excavated. The general construction contract was awarded to a joint venture of Newberg Construction and Paschen Contractors in May 1981. contractors were reluctant to bid on the panels, which were required to be both curved and resistant to leakage. Work was also delayed due to a labor strike that year, and water accumulated in the foundation during the strike, forcing workers to pump out the water. On December 11, 1981, five workers were killed when a steel cage at the construction site plummeted to the ground. Preliminary investigations found that the cage suffered from
metal fatigue. This accident did not delay construction of the building. and the steel frame had reached the sixth floor by the next month. The project was not hindered by rain, and since the frame used little concrete, there was no need for workers to wait for warmer weather before pouring concrete. While the project had caused part of LaSalle Street to sag, workers planned to repair the road. By early 1982, Dubuffet had agreed to construct a sculpture for $750,000. The steel frame
topped out on September 1, 1982, at which point the construction cost had increased to $172 million. Other estimates in 1983–1984 put the cost at around $118 million. State officials revised the plans in 1983 to save about $9 million. Due to budget overruns, the state government substituted the facade's double-paned glass panels with single-paned glass, and they considered canceling a proposed art gallery inside the building. The state saved money by canceling earlier plans to install hundreds of doors. Kitchenettes and padded floors were omitted from the plans,
Completion State Building Venture was selected to operate a mall on three of the lower stories; rent from the mall was expected to produce $14 million in revenue for the building over its first 15 years. By February 1984, the building's mall was 80% leased. That June, Mayor
Harold Washington requested that the
Chicago City Council exempt State Building Venture from having to acquire a building permit for the mall. In addition, the
Illinois Attorney General's office said that the building's floors could not support the weight of the office's law library, requiring up to $150,000 in reinforcement work. Employees began moving into the State of Illinois Center near the end of that year, including the governor himself, who alternately worked in Chicago and the state capital of
Springfield. and two-thirds of the building's employees had moved in by April 1985. The final cost of the building totaled $172 million, nearly twice the original cost estimate, which later prompted an investigation from state auditors.
Opening and early years When it was completed, the State of Illinois Center became the main building for the Illinois government in Chicago, complementing offices in Springfield. Various state government offices (such as those of the
Governor,
Attorney General, and
Secretary of State) were housed in the Thompson Center. Other state departments and commissions had offices in the building as well, and it was a frequent site for public hearings and press conferences, among other government-related events.
1980s The State of Illinois Center opened on May 6, 1985; the opening ceremony alone cost $100,000, sparking criticism. At the time, some parts of the building were incomplete. The Illinois Artisans Shop opened within the building in December 1985. The structure was not finished until early 1986, with interior temperatures reaching during the summer. The elevators made excessive noise, forcing the state of Illinois to install sound-dampening panels around the elevators. There were also complaints about rat infestations and leaks, and
glare from sunlight often made it difficult to see computer screens, forcing some workers to use umbrellas indoors. Within a year of construction, the building's electricity use exceeded initial projections by 35%. The state government added
Venetian blinds in an attempt to reduce glare and save energy. the cost of the upgrade was estimated at $20 million. As such, state officials considered suing the building's engineers, and Illinois Attorney General
Neil Hartigan sued several companies involved in the building's construction in April 1987 for $20 million. Jahn filed a countersuit, saying the issues were not because of the design. the tunnel eventually opened in December 1989. By the late 1980s, the building had more than two million annual visitors, and the atrium was used for private events during nights and weekends. The gallery ultimately remained open after receiving large private donations. The building was renamed on May 10, 1993, to honor former governor Thompson. The Illinois General Assembly had approved the renaming at the request of Thompson's onetime lieutenant governor,
George Ryan, who had suggested Thompson as a namesake because "I don't know anybody else who wants that building named after him". The building remained a popular meeting spot for the public. Hartigan's 1987 lawsuit against the building's contractors and architects was not settled until 1994, when several of the defendants agreed to pay Hartigan's successor,
Roland Burris, a $5.7 million settlement. By the mid-1990s,
Marriott International was operating a food court in the building's basement. The building also suffered from a leaky roof, to the extent that seven buckets were needed to catch water even on sunny days. The General Assembly did not authorize funding to repair the roof until 1998. A man rammed his car into the atrium of the Thompson Center in June 1999; though no one was injured, the incident raised security concerns. At the time, the building was surrounded only by granite
bollards that were easy to navigate around, since the design was intended to invite the public in, and there were no metal detectors or other security measures.
Early 21st century By the 21st century, the building remained difficult to maintain, and occupants complained about the climate control system and the
open plan design. and by the 2010s, the state estimated that it would cost about $325 million to fix up the building. This included $60–80 million just for HVAC upgrades. The state government requested an audit of State Building Venture, which managed the building's storefronts, the same year State Building Venture reported that it had not profited on the retail space in 13 of its first 15 years. Following the
September 11 attacks in 2001, the Thompson Center was temporarily closed as a safety precaution, and the state hired a private security force to supplement the police officers already patrolling the building, In April 2003, Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich proposed selling the Thompson Center to help balance the state budget. Blagojevich claimed that the plan, which was to involve having the state
lease back the building, would have raised at least $230 million for the state. The Illinois General Assembly initially agreed to allow such a sale; the plan was mainly endorsed by
Democratic legislators, while most
Republican lawmakers voted against it. Critics said the sale would provide only a onetime cash infusion and was not a reliable source of funding. The building had still not been sold by the end of 2003. Though the
Hammond Times stated that several groups had expressed interest in buying the Thompson Center, In February 2004, Blagojevich's administration proposed taking out a $200 million, ten-year
mortgage on the building to reduce the state's deficit. After State Senator
Peter Roskam asked for the plan to be reviewed, Illinois Attorney General
Lisa Madigan declared it unconstitutional in June 2004. This would have required Blagojevich to seek approval from a 60%
supermajority of legislators, an option he was not willing to take. cost the state $532,000 in legal fees.
Mid-2000s to early 2010s The
Illinois State Police began patrolling the building in late 2004, replacing the building's private security force and saving $550,000 annually. In addition, metal detectors and armed guards were stationed at the entrances. The steel beams supporting the panels were found to be corroded and were removed from the building in October 2010 for $294,000. To raise money, in 2014, the
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce proposed constructing a casino in the Thompson Center; had this proposal been carried out, the state offices would have been relocated. The same year, the building was decontaminated after an employee brought in bedbugs. By the mid-2010s, the building was deteriorating, leading former governor Thompson to label it as a "scrap heap". Though the atrium was often busy, there were still complaints about its design. Several real-estate developers sent inquiries about the building to Jahn's architectural practice, leading Jahn and his partners to conduct a study of their own. There were also suggestions to redevelop the building as part of Chicago's 2010s bid to host
Amazon.com's second headquarters,
Amazon HQ2.
2010s and 2020s sale proposals In October 2015, Governor
Bruce Rauner proposed selling the property. In contrast to Blagojevich's previous proposal, multiple Republicans supported Rauner's proposal, This sale would have involved auctioning off the building and possibly demolishing it; the site's
zoning allowed a building that was 60% larger, with up to . Rauner said at the time that the building needed $100 million in repairs or $20 million per year. He also stated that the maintenance cost of the Thompson Center was three times higher than for similar office space in the Chicago Loop.
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture proposed a , 115-story
supertall skyscraper on the site in January 2017. These proposals all required that the site be rezoned, which the city was unwilling to agree to. Jahn presented a counter-proposal that involved constructing an adjacent 110-story tower and keeping the existing building. Chicago Mayor
Rahm Emanuel said he would not support the proposal unless it involved upgrades to the Clark/Lake station. The redevelopment proposal—one of several plans to demolish or significantly modify postmodern American buildings, such as
550 Madison Avenue in New York—prompted
Landmarks Illinois to list the building as one of Illinois's most endangered sites several times. Preservationists also asked the city to designate the building as a local landmark. In May 2017, Republican state legislators proposed allocating revenue from the building's sale to
Chicago Public Schools, a plan Emanuel rejected. Emanuel offered to rezone the site—allowing the state to seek a higher sale price of up to $300 million—if Rauner signed a pension-related bill, to which the governor refused. The same month, the state House voted to allow the building's sale without rezoning it. Rauner's successor
J. B. Pritzker postponed the sale in late 2018, as his administration no longer believed the building could sell for $300 million. A bill to sell the Thompson Center was sent to Pritzker in February 2019. That April, Pritzker signed a bill to begin the sale of the Thompson Center, with a proposed three-year timeline to find a buyer. The legislation sparked activism from preservationists and architects, and local group
Preservation Futures nominated the structure for inclusion on the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The
Chicago Architecture Center and
Chicago Architectural Club sponsored an
architectural design competition for a potential
adaptive reuse of the building; the three winning entries suggested converting the building into a water park, a school, or a
vertical city. The Illinois CMS announced in August 2019 that it would issue a request for proposals (RFP) to sell the headquarters, and Pritzker's administration indicated it was willing to operate the building as a
public–private partnership. The CMS hired
Ernst & Young that December to help market the building, intending to have a buyer within a year. The sale was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the CMS also neglected to mention in its RFP that the building was being considered for NRHP status, which would qualify the building for federal tax credits. State workers began moving out of the building in January 2021, after the Illinois government bought another structure at
115 South LaSalle Street. Chicago's aldermen approved a zoning change for the building in May 2021, and Pritzker began requesting bids for the building that month. After postponing an August deadline for the bidding process by two months, Pritzker ultimately received two bids.
Alphabet ownership and renovation Pritzker announced an agreement in December 2021 to sell the building to JRTC Holdings, a firm led by Prime/Capri Interests. for $148 million. This plan was changed after one of the buyers, Quintin Primo, connected with a friend who told him that
Google was looking to expand its offices in Chicago. Unlike the previous plan, this revised proposal would involve selling the entirety of the Thompson Center. In 2023, the
National Park Service rejected the application to list the building on the NRHP, citing opposition from Alphabet. The next month, Google released renderings of the redesigned facade, while promising that the central atrium would be retained in the redesign. Google indicated that it would convert the building into a
third place–style space for meetings. and renderings of the redesigned atrium were released that November. Evan Jahn, the son of Helmut Jahn, was hired to oversee the renovation, It was also originally planned to be the building's only tenant. Installation of glass panels was underway by that July, at which point the building was scheduled to be ready for use in 2027. Once completed, the building was planned to receive a
LEED Platinum
green building certification. A new glass cladding was being installed by mid-2025, and Google received a permit that December to begin an $85 million interior renovation. The exterior construction crane was disassembled in early 2026. Leasing of the building's office and commercial space began in March 2026, at which point Google planned to move in the following year. In addition, the building's formal name would be shortened to "Thompson Center" rather than being changed to "Google Center". == Architecture ==