Two Prudential Plaza is a 64-story

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

located in the Loop area of

Chicago 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 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. At tall, it is the seventh-tallest building in Chicago and the 28th-tallest in the U.S., being only five feet from 1,000 feet, making it the closest of any building under 1,000. Built in 1990, the building was designed by the firm Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, with Stephen T. Wright as the principal in charge of design. It has received eight awards, including winning the Best Structure Award from the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois in 1995.

History

Construction started in 1988, and Two Prudential Plaza was completed in 1990. At the time of completion, Two Prudential was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building. Its distinctive shape features stacked chevron setbacks on the north and south sides, a pyramidal peak rotated 45°, and an spire. The building is attached to

One Prudential Plaza One Prudential Plaza (formerly known as the Prudential Building) is a 41-story structure in Chicago completed in 1955 as the headquarters for Prudential Financial, Prudential's Mid-America company. It was the first skyscraper built in Chicago ...

(formerly known as the Prudential Building) since 1992. Without its spire, the building's height is still slightly greater than that of One Prudential Plaza's pinnacle. In May 2006, BentleyForbes, a Los Angeles–based real estate investment firm run by Frederick Wehba and his family, purchased Two Prudential Plaza, along with its sister property,

for $470 million (equivalent to $ in ). In 2015, BentleyForbes defaulted on the mortgage for the towers due to the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

and New York–based investors 601W Companies and Berkley Properties took control of the property after investing more than $100 million (more than $ in ) in equity to recapitalize. BentleyForbes continues to have an interest in the owning partnership.

Tenants

The Consulate General of Canada in Chicago is located in Suite 2400. The

Flag of Canada The National Flag of Canada (), popularly referred to as The Maple Leaf or l'Unifolié (), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in which is featured one stylized, red, 11-pointed maple leaf Charge (hera ...

is flown next to that of the United States in the building's Lake Street plaza. Audacy occupies the ninth to twelfth floors, including WBBM,

WBBM-FM WBBM-FM (96.3 MHz, "B96") is a gold-based contemporary hit radio station in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 3,300 watts, transmitting from atop the Willis Tower (formerly th ...

WBMX WBMX (104.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "104.3 Jams") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs a classic ...

WXRT WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an alternative rock radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station broadcasts from a transmitter atop John Hancock Center and its studios are located at T ...

WUSN WUSN (99.5 FM) is a country music radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc. and branded as "US✶99", it is based at Two Prudential Plaza in the Chicago Loop, Loop, and transmits from atop the John Hancock Center with an HD Ra ...

WSCR WSCR (670 AM radio, AM) – branded 670 The Score – is a Commercial radio, commercial sports radio station, licensed to Chicago, Illinois, which serves the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station wit ...

and WCFS.

In popular culture

The building and the plaza appear in the 1994 film ''Richie Rich'' as Rich Industries Inc.

Gallery

Position in Chicago's skyline

References

External links

Official website

Two Prudential Plaza
on

CTBUH The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in Chicago, Illinois, U ...

Skyscraper Center * {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1990 Chicago Tribune 1990 establishments in Illinois Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago Newspaper headquarters in the United States Newspaper buildings Prudential Financial buildings Postmodern architecture in the United States