311 South Wacker Drive — The Building

311 South Wacker Drive is one of Chicago's most recognizable skyscrapers — a 961-foot, 65-story postmodern tower completed in 1990 and designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. When it opened, it was the tallest reinforced-concrete building in the world. Its crenellated, translucent crown glows in changing colors through the seasons, earning it the affectionate local nickname "the White Castle building."

At street level, the tower is famous for its two-story winter garden atrium — a glass-ceilinged public space with a central fountain and palm trees that connects pedestrians toward Willis Tower next door. The building offers a conference center, tenant lounge, the "Level Up" fitness club, ground-floor dining (Chipotle, Big Shoulders Coffee) and an underground parking garage.

Location is the headline: Willis Tower and its Skydeck are directly across Jackson Boulevard, Union Station is two blocks west, the LaSalle Street financial corridor two blocks east, and the Chicago Riverwalk minutes north. Walk Score rates the address 97/100 and Transit Score a perfect 100.

In July 2025 the building changed hands, and plans have been floated to convert about a dozen floors into a 200–300-room hotel — a story worth watching as the Loop reinvents itself.

Learn more: 311 South Wacker Drive on Wikipedia ↗