The tower section is a 78-story, 859-foot (262 m) reinforced concrete slab, faced with gray marble, and is the twelfth tallest building in Chicago and the twenty-sixth tallest in the United States. When built, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. It contains a Ritz-Carlton hotel, condominiums and office space, and sits atop a block-long base containing an atrium-style retail mall that fronts on the Magnificent Mile.
Water Tower Place's opening changed the economic dynamics of the Magnificent Mile by bringing middle-class shops to what had been a street dominated by luxury retailers, tony hotels, and expensive apartments. It shifted downtown Chicago's retail center of gravity north from State Street to North Michigan Avenue.
The 360 condo units in the tower were designed in 1974. Richard A. Meyers Realty, Inc., was the contracted sales and marketing consultant. In a recessionary market, the company was given the challenge of demonstrating the product and obtaining hard contracts before construction began. This was a challenging assignment in the recessionary climate of 1974–1976.[citation needed]
A detailed product research study was conducted by Gary S. Meyers, which included examining on a room-by-room basis over luxury 100 high-rise condominiums in the Chicago metropolitan area and a like number around the nation. The product analysis was then compared with sales velocities of other projects to determine buyer needs and wants and their respective acceptable price points. The net result was a mathematically designed housing product that allowed for specific space allocation for each room in each unit. The results were efficient units, where each room had a competitive advantage.[citation needed]
After the product was designed, Richard A. Meyers Realty, Inc. and Urban Investment and Development took an entire floor in the Blair Building, 645 N. Michigan Avenue, and built several full-scale condominium units, several blocks away from the site. This combined marketing approach produced sales of over 100 units before the building was ready for occupancy, a pace that surpassed units ready for occupancy in competing buildings during the same period.
In 2001, a program of refurbishments was begun, including enclosing the exterior arcade along Michigan and adding a loading dock in the middle of the block for additional retail space. Also included were updates to the escalators and fountains leading into the mall from North Michigan Avenue lobby, as well as enhancements to the sidewalk areas, the mall's exterior facades, and department store entrances. Some of the changes included the addition of exterior glass walls and display areas for the department stores, some small specialty retail space in the renovated lobby area, and large exterior rounded, corner glass bay windows and lighted "fins" on the North Michigan Avenue and side street exterior walls of the mall. These last additions broke up the boxy nature of the original architecture and added some dimension and scale to the monolithic marble walls. The interior fountain between the escalators leading from the North Michigan Avenue lobby were also updated with a tiered "pop jet" fountain with cascading waterfalls and balls of water, controlled by computer-based choreography.
Oprah Winfrey acquired four condominium units in the building. The condos were sold in 2015 and 2016 for slightly more than what she paid.[5][6]
On August 14, 2020, WGN-TV announced Macy's would be leaving, although they declined to give a comment. Then in September 2020, Macy's reopened their store and all operations will continue. On January 5, 2021, it was announced that Macy's would be closing as part of a plan to close 46 stores nationwide. The store officially closed its doors on March 21, 2021.[7] This was a part of the early 2021 downsizing by Macy's Inc.
In October 2023, it was reported that the top five floors of the shopping mall were for sale, for conversion to office space. MetLife plans to downsize the mall, which suffers from significant vacancies, to only the first three floors of the podium structure.[9]
The Ritz-Carlton, Chicago
The Ritz-Carlton Chicago is a 435-room hotel at Water Tower Place.[10]
The builders of Water Tower Place acquired the rights to use the Ritz-Carlton name and logo when they opened a hotel in the tower in 1975. This was before the modern Ritz-Carlton chain was established in the mid-1980s, using the same name and logo, which have been around since the early 20th century, in use at various hotels. Also under terms of the agreement, no other hotel was permitted to use the Ritz-Carlton name in the Chicago area while the agreement was still in effect, meaning that the modern Ritz-Carlton chain was never able to operate a hotel in Chicago, only a nearby condominium, which they built in 2012.
So that their hotel would be part of a chain, the owners of Water Tower Place contracted Four Seasons Hotels to manage the hotel in 1977. It was not part of the global Ritz-Carlton chain, despite its name and use of the lion logo. In 1985 the number of guest rooms was reduced to 435.
On August 1, 2015, The Ritz Carlton Chicago ceased being a Four Seasons property and converted management and operation to Sage Hospitality of Denver, operated as a full member of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC, and participating in and marketed with the rest of The Ritz-Carlton properties.[11]
The mall in the Water Tower Place has eight levels of shops.
When the mall opened, its anchor stores were Marshall Field's and Lord & Taylor. Marshall Field's was converted to Macy's in 2006.[13] Lord & Taylor closed in 2007.[14] Macy's closed in 2021.[13]
The eight-level mall has nearly 100 shops, a live theatre and several restaurants, arranged around a chrome-and-glass atrium with glass elevators. It was one of the first vertical malls in the world, although along North Michigan Avenue it has been joined by The Shops at North Bridge and the Avenue Atrium (better known as 900 North Michigan), both of which contain higher end retail mixes.[citation needed]
In October 2023, it was reported that the top five floors of the shopping mall were for sale, for conversion to office space. MetLife plans to downsize the mall to only the first three floors of the podium structure.[9]
