Former Signature Room will be Chicago's largest observation deck
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Rendering: Courtesy of ©Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM)
Chicago's first multi-floor observation deck will soon open in the former Signature Room space.
Why it matters: The current 94th-floor observation deck of The Hancock, which includes The Tilt and Cloud Bar, remains a major tourist attraction but the building is also a magnet for architecture buffs who come to marvel at the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill-designed tower.
Driving the news: 360 Chicago, owners of the top three accessible floors of the building now known as 875 N. Michigan Ave., announced Wednesday that the 94th and 95th floors will be a more than 30,000-square-foot observation deck and the 96th floor will be a private event space.
Fun fact: The John Hancock Center was the first mixed-use tower in the world.
Flashback: The Signature Room, which occupied the 95th and 96th floors, abruptly closed in September 2023, citing financial hardship.
By the numbers: 360 Chicago purchased the top two floors last year for $18.5 million, and the renovation into a three-story observation deck will cost "tens of millions of dollars," 360 Chicago's Nichole Benolken tells Axios.
- The 94th floor currently welcomes a little less than a million visitors a year, Benolken said.
Between the lines: The nostalgic kitschy-ness of the Signature Room as a prime spot for special occasions will not be lost, Benolken promises, as 360 hosts yoga and free days for nonprofits and other locals.
- "We see hundreds of engagements up here every year as well, and a lot of those are residents from the city of Chicago," she says, and they expect those will continue.
What's next: The developers expect the new space to open in 18 to 24 months.