The Century Tower Condominiums, formerly known as the Trustees System Service Building, is a historic building located at 182 West Lake Street in the Loop in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

History

The building was designed in 1929 and completed in 1930; at the time of its completion, it was the tallest reinforced

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

building in the world. Its original tenant and namesake was the Trustees System Service, a bank that specialized in consumer loans. Architects Thielbar and Fugard designed the building in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style. The building's design consists of a twenty-story main building topped by an eight-story tower and a

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude'), ( Persian: Chogha Zanbilچغازنجبیل) is a type of massive ...

. The building has had a long list of various countries'

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

s as tenants. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on September 3, 1998. The property was converted from a commercial building to apartments in 2003. In August, 2004 the building was used to film scenes from the movie ''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...

''. In September 2005 the building became a condominium and its name changed to Century Tower.

Former tenants

The building was once home to: *

WIND (AM) WIND (560 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial radio, commercial AM broadcasting, AM radio station city of license, licensed to Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, and broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. It is owned by the Salem Media Group with stu ...

radio. * WJJD (AM) radio.History Cards for WYLL
fcc.gov. Retrieved December 8, 2019. * the Belgian consulate. * the Chinese consulate. * the Cuban consulate. * the Dominican consulate. * the Grecian consulate. * the Honduran consulate. * the Hungarian consulate. * the Italian consulate. * the Mexican consulate. * the Philippine consulate. The red marble used in the lobby is from an ancient Roman quarry in the city of

Oran, Algeria Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

. The building is listed in the

Former names

This building has formerly been named: * Skyline Century of Progress * The Lake and Wells Building * The 201 Tower * Corn Products Building * Trustees System Service Building

References

{{reflist Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Residential condominiums in Chicago Residential skyscrapers in Chicago Chicago Landmarks 1930 establishments in Illinois Commercial buildings completed in 1930