The announcement that Willis Group Holding is moving into Chicago's Sears Tower and will put its name on the largest building in the Western Hemisphere is drawing few cheers in the Windy City.
Chicago-based news outlets have reported a negative reaction from Chicagoans to the Willis Tower name change, with citizens irate at the idea of renaming a city icon with the title of a London-based broker.
National Public Radio in a piece recorded comments to the effect that "it will always be the Sears Tower to me."
And an online petition has been started pleading with Willis to "keep the Sears Tower name."
Willis spokesman Will Thoretz said, "We certainly can understand the sentimental attachment that Chicagoans have to the Sears Tower name, but we view this as an endorsement of Chicago as a major financial center. We're bringing jobs into the city, and we're helping to revitalize the building by becoming a tenant there. We think it's good for Chicago and it's good for Willis."
Renaming skyscrapers after insurance entities has occurred before. In Manhattan, for example, the Pan Am Building in Midtown became the MetLife Building, and the Cities Service Building located Downtown became the American International Building.
Aviewoncities.com Web site notes that The MetLife building is still "known by many as the Pan Am Building."
Willis said it will consolidate five area offices and move nearly 500 associates into the building. The brokerage said it will initially occupy more than 140,000 square feet on multiple floors and will pay $14.50 per square foot.
The move "will result in significant real estate cost savings," Willis said, adding that it paid no additional cost for renaming the building.
Mr. Thoretz said there is no set date for the move yet, but it should be completed by mid-to-late summer.
The 1,450-foot-tall tower was completed May 3, 1973. It was the world's tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, were built in 1998. The tower still holds the record for tallest building to the tips of the antennas.
The tower was designed by architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for Sears, Roebuck & Company.
Willis said three current Willis HRH offices in Chicago will be moved to the tower, along with Willis Commercial, a business unit serving small and medium-sized enterprises.
"Don Bailey, chairman and chief executive officer, Willis HRH, bragged that "Willis Tower will make us a household name among our clients, prospective clients and in the larger business community."
It might also give it a bad name among some Chicagoans, to judge by their comments.
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