Willis Tower: New Renderings Unveil Plans For 300K SF Retail, Entertainment Hub

EQ Office today released new renderings of the Willis Tower redevelopment, and they include sweeping plans for a 300K SF restaurant, entertainment and retail hub called the Catalog.

Catalog will fill five stories at the base of Willis Tower. Its name refers to the Sears Roebuck Co., the pioneer of the shopping catalog and developer/former namesake of Willis Tower. Catalog will feature all of the latest in retail, including immersive experiential elements, fitness boutiques and entertainment as well as soft goods and food offerings. Gensler is overseeing the design.

“The space recognizes the pace of change occurring in everyone’s lives and our need to drive lifestyle and experience into the workday,” EQ Office Senior Vice President David Moore said. EQ Office is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackstone.

“With the addition of Catalog, we are furthering our mission to create a new Willis Tower as an urban destination that is the heart of downtown, capturing the vibrancy of the city, and delivering the best experiences of life and work to residents and visitors of Chicago.”

Urbanspace will anchor Catalog with a 14K SF food hall. The brand has locations in New York City and London and will open its Chicago food hall in mid-2020.

Other tenants in Catalog will include Shake Shack, Sweetgreen, Luke's Lobster and Taylor Gourmet.

Catalog will be crowned by a 30K SF green roof deck and garden. 

EQ Office — which until June was called Equity Office Properties — is deep into a $500M redevelopment of the iconic office building, which has included massive changes like the introduction of Catalog, in addition to upgrades like overhauling the elevator system to be faster and changing the spire lighting to LEDs with more color options.