Chicago Daily News Building Is Now Officially A Landmark

DOWNTOWN — An Art Deco skyscraper that was the former home of the Chicago Daily News is officially a Chicago landmark after receiving City Council approval Wednesday.

The building at 2 N. Riverside Plaza on the Chicago River, situated directly across from the Lyric Opera building, was built in 1929 and designed by storied Chicago architecture firm Holabird and Root, which was also behind Art Deco landmarks such as the Chicago Board of Trade building and the Palmolive Building on Michigan Avenue.

Its landmark status was requested by the building’s owners, who hope to take advantage of a city incentive that allows for a reduction in property taxes for rehab projects at landmarked sites, according to a planning department staffer.

The landmarking report does not reveal any specific details for a proposed project but does outline what’s protected, including the plaza, rooflines, main lobbies, connecting staircase and second-floor concourse. 

From 1929 to 1960, the building housed the headquarters and printing press of the Chicago Daily News, “one of the city’s most important and widely read daily newspapers,” according to a city landmark report.

Some of Chicago’s most lauded writers, reporters and cartoonists once worked for the Daily News, including Ben Hecht, Carl Sandburg, Vaughn Shoemaker and Mike Royko. The paper ceased publication in the late 1970s.

Since then, the Daily News building has been home to a variety of office uses. It’s known for its large riverfront plaza along the south branch of the Chicago River. The building currently houses retail and office space, commercial offices on the upper levels and a concourse connecting to the Ogilvie Transportation Center.

Quinn Myers contributed.