FitzGerald Associates Architects provided architectural services in the adaptive reuse of the nine-story Montgomery Ward Merchandise Building—originally constructed by Montgomery Ward as the headquarters for his burgeoning catalog company—in 2000. One of the first cast-in-place concrete structures in Chicago, the entire building, including walls, columns, floor slabs, and roof, is made of concrete. A full restoration was completed on the statue of Cirrus adorning the tower on the northeast corner of the building, marking the entrance. The statue was installed by Montgomery Ward after he acquired it from the 1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair in Chicago.

FitzGerald designed a floor plan to accommodate a total of 241 condominiums, with luxurious penthouse units constructed in the former mechanical penthouse that feature nearly unrivaled panoramic city views. Due to the vast area of the building’s floor plates, two central light courts were carved into the building down to the second floor, allowing the creation of inward-facing units with their own balconies in an otherwise unusable interior floor space.

Parking for 241 vehicles is provided on the basement and first floors, while the residents occupy the second through eighth floors.