LaSalle Street has another conversion story moving forward, and this one comes with serious architectural bloodlines.
The former Central YMCA Headquarters at 19 S. LaSalle is advancing toward a residential future, with plans for 207 apartments above new ground-floor retail. Interior demolition has been permitted, construction is expected to begin in spring 2026, and landmark protection is also moving through the city process.
So yes, another old Loop office building is about to get roommates. But this one is not just another old Loop office building.
19 S. LaSalle was built in 1893 and designed by Jenney & Mundie. That means William Le Baron Jenney is in the story. Jenney is widely recognized as the “father of the skyscraper” for helping pioneer skeleton-frame construction, one of the breakthroughs that changed how cities were built around the world.
No pressure. Doing something worthy of historic is the call. The building began life as the Central YMCA Headquarters, which sounds modest until you realize it was doing something pretty radical for its time: putting YMCA programming inside a high-rise commercial office building in the heart of the central business district. It had nearly 40,000 square feet of office space to help support operations and later became a major center for the YMCA’s educational programming from the 1920s through the 1950s. This building has been mixing uses since before “mixed-use” became something people put in planning decks.
The new conversion, led by Envoi Partners with design by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and construction by Power Construction, is expected to turn the upper floors into housing while bringing retail activity back to the street level. The project is estimated at $64 million. And that matters because LaSalle does not need another beautiful building sitting around waiting for office demand to act like it’s 1998.It needs people.
Residents. Front doors. Packages. Dogs. Coffee runs. Dinner plans. Lights on after 5PM.An adjacent alley turned into a social space. The basic ingredients of a vibrant, attractive neighborhood are still oddly shocking to parts of the Financial District.
The preservation angle is just as important. The landmark process would protect the building’s exterior elevations and rooflines, preserving a rare surviving piece of Jenney’s Loop legacy. Together with the New York Life Building nearby, 19 S. LaSalle is one of the only remaining Loop examples tied to Jenney’s work.
A big cheer and congrats to Chicago. Not demolition. No slipping into hazy nostalgia. No turning great architecture into a very expensive memory where all the architectural artifacts get spread around the vintage shops.
Preserve the bones. Add the people. Let the street evolve. Because if LaSalle is going to have a future worth talking about, this is exactly the kind of thing that has to happen. It’s all about historic buildings staying in the conversation, but getting a “new job.”
The father of the skyscraper helped shape modern cities. Now one of his buildings gets to help reshape downtown Chicago again.