Wrigley Building
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The Wrigley Building is a
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 at 400–410 North Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Near North Side. It is located on the Magnificent Mile directly across Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower. Its two towers in an elaborate style were built between 1920 and 1924 to house the corporate headquarters of the
Wrigley Company Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a subsidiary ...
. Its bright white facade is covered in
terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...
.


History

When ground was broken for the Wrigley Building in 1920, there were no major office buildings north of the
Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
. The Michigan Avenue Bridge, which spans the river just south of the building, was still under construction. The land was selected by
chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...
magnate William Wrigley Jr. for the headquarters of his company. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White using the shape of the Giralda tower of Seville's Cathedral combined with French Renaissance details. The south tower was completed in September 1921 and the north tower in May 1924. Walkways between the towers were added at the ground level and the third floor. In 1931, another walkway was added at the fourteenth floor to allow for a rearrangement of Wrigley's offices. The two towers, not including the levels below Michigan Avenue, have a combined area of . The two towers are of differing heights, with the south tower rising to 30 stories and the north tower to 21 stories. On the south tower is a
clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...
with faces pointing in all directions. Each face is in diameter. The building is clad in glazed terra-cotta, which provides its gleaming white façade. On occasion, the entire building is hand washed to preserve the terra cotta. At night, the building is brightly lit with floodlights. The Wrigley Building was Chicago's first air-conditioned office building. If one walks through the center doors, one will enter a secluded park area overlooking the
Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
. In the 1957 science fiction film '' Beginning of the End'', giant grasshoppers attack downtown Chicago, and in one scene are shown climbing up the side of the Wrigley Building. The Wrigley Building was sold in 2011 to a group of investors that includes Zeller Realty Group and Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. The new owners made the building more attractive to businesses by adding a Walgreens, a coffee shop, a fitness center and a nursing room for mothers. In 2019, billionaire Joe Mansueto completed the purchase of the Wrigley Building.


Tenants

Addresses at 400 North Michigan Avenue: *The Consulate-General of Austria resides in Suite 707. *The Consulate-General of the United Kingdom resided on the 12th and 13th floors of the Wrigley Building from 1996 to August 2011, when the Consulate-General relocated to another building on North Michigan Avenue.British Consulate-General, Chicago
''UKinUSA''. Accessed 30 August 2011. * Select Model Management, located in Suite 700. Addresses at 410 North Michigan Avenue: *Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, housed in Suite 900. *EZCall, a division of Kronos Incorporated, housed in Suite 660. *Capax Global US Headquarters, housed in Suite 650. * Perkins and Will


Gallery

File:Chicago September 2016-35.jpg, The Wrigley Building's Giralda-inspired tower File:Chicago (34886261555).jpg, A view along Michigan Ave., the Wrigley Building is visible on the right File:Río Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Estados Unidos, 2012-10-20, DD 02.jpg, The structure from across the
Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). The river is one of the reasons for Chicago's geographic importance: the related Chic ...
File:The Wrigley Building (47827964482).jpg, An upwards facing view of the building File:Chicago September 2016-14 (cropped).jpg, An angle of the building showing the annex in more detail. File:Wrigley Building lit up at night with U.S.A. flag with Tribune Tower to the side from the Chicago River in July 2024.jpg, Wrigley Building lit up at night with the American flag from the Chicago River in July 2024


See also

* Architecture of Chicago


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrigley Building Chicago Landmarks Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago Central Chicago Wrigley Company Buildings and structures completed in 1924 Clock towers in Illinois Terracotta Renaissance Revival architecture in Illinois Spanish Revival architecture in Illinois 1924 establishments in Illinois