Architects to present new plan for old Chicago post office

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Chicago's former main post office The former main Chicago post office that spans the Congress Expressway, at 433 W. Van Buren St. is being auctioned off. The 14-story, 77-year-old building has been vacant since 1995 when the Postal Service moved to a new building on Harrison Street. Since then, ideas floated for the space have included a casino, a water park and an auto mall. (Tribune photo by Antonio Perez /July 8, 2009)

8:16 p.m. CDT, May 3, 2013

Architects for the British developer who owns Chicago's old post office building say they have a new proposal for the structure that will be ready for presentation to the city's Plan Commission in June.

The developer, Bill Davies, unveiled a massive redevelopment plan in 2011 that he promised would transform the area around the old post office, which straddles Congress Parkway, into an "urban mecca" of five residential, office and hotel towers.

The latest proposal is more modest, calling for retail shops on the first three floors of the nine-story building and residential space above that. Davies also wants to construct a 100-story building with residential and hotel space on land between the old post office and the Chicago River.

The plans include a new, high-tech parking structure on a site just to the west of the old post office.

"You'll come to the elevator, push a button, and a robot will go and get your car," said Joseph Antunovich, president of Antunovich Associates, the architecture, planning and interior design firm working on the project.

The architects met Friday morning with city fire officials to discuss fire safety related to the preliminary proposal, a Fire Department official said. Antunovich said the building has improved sprinkler standpipes and has started running its 11 exhaust fans 24 hours a day.

Under a federal agreement with Amtrak and Union Station, the owner of the old post office is required to keep its ventilation system running constantly to suck out diesel exhaust from nearby Union Station.

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Architects to present new plan for old Chicago post office