4706
Global
Height rank

Pittsfield Building

Chicago
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    Metrics
Height 169.8 m / 557 ft
Floors 41
Official Name
The current legal building name.

Pittsfield Building

Other Names
Other names the building has commonly been known as, including former names, common informal names, local names, etc.

Fornelli Hall

Type
CVU collects data on two major types of tall structures: 'Buildings' and 'Telecommunications / Observation Towers.' A 'Building' is a structure where at least 50% of the height is occupied by usable floor area. A 'Telecommunications / Observation Tower' is a structure where less than 50% of the structure's height is occupied by usable floor area. Only 'Buildings' are eligible for the CVU 'Tallest Buildings' lists.

Building

Status
Completed
Architecturally Topped Out
Structurally Topped Out
Under Construction
Proposed
On Hold
Never Completed
Vision
Competition Entry
Canceled
Proposed Renovation
Under Renovation
Renovated
Under Demolition
Demolished

Completed

Completion

1927

Country
CVU follows the United Nations's definition of Country, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

United States

City
CVU follows the United Nations's definition of City, and thus uses the lists and codes established by that organization.

Chicago

Address

55 East Washington Street

Current Function
A single-function tall building is defined as one where 85% or more of its usable floor area is dedicated to a single usage. Thus a building with 90% office floor area would be said to be an "office" building, irrespective of other minor functions it may also contain.

A mixed-use tall building contains two or more functions (or uses), where each of the functions occupy a significant proportion of the tower's total space. Support areas such as car parks and mechanical plant space do not constitute mixed-use functions. Functions are denoted on CVU "Tallest Building" lists in descending order, e.g., "hotel/office" indicates hotel function above office function.

Observation / Residential

Original Function

Office

Structural Material
All-Steel
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from steel. Note that a building of steel construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of steel beams is still considered an “all-steel” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

All-Concrete
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from concrete which has been cast in place and utilizes steel reinforcement bars and/or steel reinforced concrete which has been precast as individual components and assembled together on-site.

All-Timber
Both the main vertical/lateral structural elements and the floor spanning systems are constructed from timber. An all-timber structure may include the use of localized non-timber connections between timber elements. Note that a building of timber construction with a floor system of concrete planks or concrete slab on top of timber beams is still considered an “all-timber” structure as the concrete elements are not acting as the primary structure.

Mixed-Structure
Utilizes distinct systems (e.g. all-steel, all-concrete, all-timber), one on top of the other. For example, a Steel Over Concrete indicates an all-steel structural system located on top of an all-concrete structural system, with the opposite true of Concrete Over Steel.

Composite
A combination of materials (e.g. steel, concrete, timber) are used together in the main structural elements. Examples include buildings which utilize: steel columns with a floor system of reinforced concrete beams; a steel frame system with a concrete core; concrete-encased steel columns; concrete-filled steel tubes; etc. Where known, the CVU database breaks out the materials used within a composite building’s primary structural elements.

All-Steel

Height
Architectural
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flag poles or other functional-technical equipment. This measurement is the most widely utilized and is employed to define the Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU) rankings of the "World's Tallest Buildings."

169.8 m / 557 ft

To Tip
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest point of the building, irrespective of material or function of the highest element (i.e., including antennae, flagpoles, signage and other functional-technical equipment).
169.8 m / 557 ft
Occupied
Height is measured from the level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the highest occupied floor within the building.
139.4 m / 457 ft
Floors Above Ground
The number of floors above ground should include the ground floor level and be the number of main floors above ground, including any significant mezzanine floors and major mechanical plant floors. Mechanical mezzanines should not be included if they have a significantly smaller floor area than the major floors below. Similarly, mechanical penthouses or plant rooms protruding above the general roof area should not be counted. Note: CVU floor counts may differ from published accounts, as it is common in some regions of the world for certain floor levels not to be included (e.g., the level 4, 14, 24, etc. in Hong Kong).

41

Floors Below Ground
The number of floors below ground should include all major floors located below the ground floor level.

3

# of Apartments
Number of Apartments refers to the total number of residential units (including both rental units and condominiums) contained within a particular building.

442

# of Elevators
Number of Elevators refers to the total number of elevator cars (not shafts) contained within a particular building (including public, private and freight elevators).

16

Rankings

  • By Location
#
4706
Tallest in the World
#
82
Tallest in Chicago

Construction Schedule

1926

Construction Start

1927

Completed

2008

Retrofit Start

2027

Retrofit End

Owner
Current
L'Cre Partners; Marc Realty
Past
Field Estate; Morgan Reed Group; The Alter Group; The Field Museum; Xiao Hua Gong
Developer
Field Estate
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Structural Engineer
Design

The Design Engineer is usually involved in the front end design, typically taking the leadership role in the Schematic Design and Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
William Braeger
Contractor
Main Contractor

The main contractor is the supervisory contractor of all construction work on a project, management of sub-contractors and vendors, etc. May be referred to as "Construction Manager," however, for consistency CTBUH uses the term "Main Contractor" exclusively.
Henry Ericsson and Co.

Retrofit Companies Involved

Developer
L'Cre Partners; The Alter Group
Architect
Design

Usually involved in the front end design, with a "typical" condition being that of a leadership role through either Schematic Design or Design Development, and then a monitoring role through the CD and CA phases.
Pappageorge Haymes Partners
Other Consultant

Other Consultant refers to other organizations which provided significant consultation services for a building project (e.g. wind consultants, environmental consultants, fire and life safety consultants, etc).
Legal
Acosta Ezgur, LLC

Global News

21 March 2025

New Conversion Proposal for Chicago’s Pittsfield Building

An investor who acquired a significant portion of Chicago’s historic Pittsfield Building is proposing an office-to-residential conversion, adding to the growing trend of repurposing underutilized...

 

About Pittsfield Building

Starting in 2008, floors 13 through 21 were converted from office into 177 residential apartments with The Alter Group serving as the developer and owner of the newly converted space. Initially, these residential units were used as student housing and at the time were collectively referred to as Fornelli Hall.

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