SOAR honors Tribune Tower Residences architect

Local architect Steven Hubbard, an associate principal at SCB, was recognized for his work designing the Tribune Tower Residences on Thursday, June 23, at the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR) Blueprints 2022 Gala, where he received the organization's Vision into Reality award.

Hubbard has designed a number of prominent buildings downtown, including the Moment residential tower and Loews Chicago Hotel and North Water Apartments in Streeterville, as well as the Marquee at Block 37 in the South Loop. But the Tribune Tower's unique story made this latest project a truly one-of-a-kind experience.

"Being involved with something that has such an incredible history to it and making it feel as though it was never touched -- that's pretty special," he said.

Distinguished by its striking neo-Gothic style of architecture, the Michigan Avenue tower dates back nearly a century and formerly housed the Chicago Tribune and WGN Radio offices, which relocated to new sites four years ago. CIM Group and Golub & Company acquired the Tribune Tower in 2016 and launched a redevelopment project involving the creation of 162 luxury condominiums.

During discussions on the condominium conversion with developers, the project team identified the importance of preserving the building's architectural composition, Hubbard said, calling these features "essential" to the Streeterville neighborhood.

SOAR President Deborah Gershbein described the tower as "a building of stories," adding the Tribune Tower Residences project had made it "better than ever."

"When the newspaper was here, they wrote many stories about world happenings and history, people in Chicago, crisis, wars -- you name it," Gershbein said. "There were stories written, and now we have a new story that is going to be written because of the reimagined homes that have been created here."

Gala attendees were invited to explore some of the building's amenities, including the Crown Amenity Floor, featuring a scenic view of downtown Chicago and an outdoor terrace and lounge surrounded by flying buttresses and other architectural highlights, and the seventh floor, which offers an indoor pool and a terrace, along with the original Chicago Tribune sign.

Now in its 10th year, SOAR's Blueprints Gala recognizes architects whose work has made significant contributions to the Streeterville community. Past honorees include Ralph Johnson of Perkins and Will, who designed the Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center, and John Vinci, designer of the Arts Club of Chicago building.

"We invented the concept of Blueprints because Chicago is supposed to be the architectural capital of the United States," Gershbein said. "Streeterville has so many iconic buildings that we thought it was appropriate to honor these significant architects."