Old Post Office Project Will Not Be Delivered - Going Back to the Drawing Board

Image from Curbed Chicago

The old, massive post office redevelopment project has hit another major snag (via Tribune):

Bill Davies' plans for the old post office, the behemoth concrete building that straddles the Eisenhower Expressway, were once compared to believing in unicorns and fairy tales. 

True to expectations, this story will not have a happy ending. Not after Crain's reported Wednesday that a plan to redevelop the building in a joint venture between the fast-growing Chicago developer Sterling Bay and Davies had fallen apart, and that Sterling Bay had offered Davies nearly $150 million for it. 

That would be at least $125 million more than he paid for it in 2009.
Davies' London-based representative Richard Sykes told me Wednesday that "a new, grand plan for the whole site" is in the works. He describes it as a "much clearer idea" of what would be the "best possible scenario."  

When might the world see an outline of this wonder?  

"Three to four weeks," Sykes said.

Don't hold your breath.

This building and the grand plans for it remain elusive.  Earlier this year it was rumored that Walgreens Co. (based in Deerfield) was kicking the tires on the building to see if it could serve as their headquarters.

Beyond that it's been rumored to be a prime site for the similarly elusive Chicago casino.

Stay tuned, this story isn't getting resolved anytime soon.