Walk down Wacker Drive in Chicago and you’ll see plenty of glass. Lots of it. But One North Wacker Drive—or the UBS Tower, if you’re old school—hits different. It’s not just another rectangle in the skyline. It’s a 50-story testament to what happens when a developer like the late John Buck decides to gamble on a site that everyone else thought was just "okay."
Most people think office buildings are dying. They aren't. Not the good ones, anyway. One North Wacker stays packed because it understands something basic: people don't want to work in a cubicle farm that feels like a dentist’s waiting room. They want light. They want views of the river. Honestly, they want to feel like they’ve "made it."
The Architecture of One North Wacker Drive
You can't talk about this place without mentioning Lohan Associates. Dirk Lohan, the grandson of the legendary Mies van der Rohe, put his stamp on this. It opened in 2001. That’s a weird era for architecture—stuck between the post-modern 90s and the hyper-futuristic glass of today. Yet, it holds up.
Why? Because of the "side-core" design.
In most scrapers, the elevators are in the middle. It’s a big concrete block that eats up the best views. At One North Wacker, they shoved the elevators to the side. This opens up massive, uninterrupted floor plates. If you're a high-frequency trading firm or a massive law firm like Barnes & Thornburg, you want your people seeing each other, not walking around a central elevator bank. It creates a flow that basically feels like a massive loft in the sky.
Then there's the glass. It was one of the first buildings in the U.S. to use a cable-net glass wall system for the lobby. It’s essentially a giant spiderweb of steel cables holding up massive panes of glass. It looks invisible. When you’re standing in that lobby, you feel the energy of the Loop vibrating right through the walls. It’s cool. It’s intimidating. It’s exactly what a corporate headquarters should be.
Who Actually Works Here?
The tenant list reads like a Who's Who of the Chicago business world. UBS is obviously the big name. They’ve been the anchor since day one. But you’ve also got huge names like Fitch Ratings and Northwestern Mutual.
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It's a magnet for finance.
Why? Proximity. You’re steps away from the Ogilvie Transportation Center and Union Station. If you’re a partner at a firm living in Winnetka or Hinsdale, you can be off the Metra and at your desk in six minutes. That sounds like a small thing. It’s not. It’s the difference between seeing your kids for dinner or stuck on the Eisenhower Expressway at 6:30 PM.
The building has adapted, too. It’s not just suits and ties anymore. The 2015 renovation by Irvine Company—who took full ownership—added the "One North" amenity floor. It’s got a fitness center that rivals luxury gyms and a private cafe. They turned a basement-level vibe into a high-end experience. Basically, they realized that if you want people to leave their couch and their dog, the office has to be better than their house.
The Competition for the Chicago River
The Chicago River is the new lakefront. With the Rise of the West Loop and buildings like 150 North Riverside or the Salesforce Tower, One North Wacker has to fight harder. It’s the "OG" of the modern Wacker corridor.
Some people think the newer buildings are better because they’re shinier. Maybe. But One North Wacker has a specific gravitas. It’s situated at the corner of Wacker and Madison. That is the bullseye of the city. You’re at the nexus of the financial district and the legal district.
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Sustainability is Not Just a Buzzword
You’ll hear every building claim they’re "green." One North Wacker actually puts the work in. It’s LEED Platinum. That’s the highest tier. They didn't just swap some lightbulbs. They overhauled the HVAC systems and water management. In a city like Chicago, where winters are brutal and summers are a humid mess, managing the thermal load of a 50-story glass box is an engineering nightmare. They do it efficiently.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Site
There’s a myth that this spot was always destined for a skyscraper. Not really. For a long time, it was just another patch of the Loop. It took vision to realize that the "bend" in Wacker Drive was going to become the most valuable real estate in the Midwest.
People also assume these buildings are static. They aren't. They’re living organisms. One North Wacker is constantly being tweaked. The tech in the elevators, the air filtration systems (huge after 2020), and even the retail mix on the ground floor are in constant flux. It’s a 1.4 million-square-foot machine that never sleeps.
Why It Matters Today
The "Death of the Office" is a catchy headline, but it’s mostly wrong for Class A+ assets. One North Wacker Drive stays relevant because it’s a "Flight to Quality" destination. When companies downsize, they don't go to a cheaper, worse building. They move to a smaller space in a better building. They want the prestige. They want the amenities.
If you're a young analyst, you want to be where the action is. You want to walk through that cable-net lobby and feel the scale of the city. One North Wacker provides that. It’s about the psychology of work as much as the square footage.
The Logistics You Should Know
- Height: 50 stories (roughly 650 feet).
- Owner: Irvine Company.
- Notable Tenants: UBS, Fitch Ratings, Barnes & Thornburg, Invenergy.
- Location: Corner of Wacker and Madison.
- Commute: Extremely close to Metra lines and "L" stops (Washington/Wells).
Actionable Steps for Navigating One North Wacker
If you’re a business owner looking at the space or just someone visiting for a meeting, here is the ground-level reality of how to handle this building.
- Don't just show up at the security desk. Like most high-rise buildings in the Loop, security is tight. Ensure your host has added you to the Envoy system or whatever visitor management they're using that week. You'll need a government ID. No ID, no entry. Simple as that.
- Check out the lobby art. The building often features significant installations. It’s not just a pass-through space; it’s designed to be an experience. Take thirty seconds to actually look up.
- Use the Pedway. If it’s January and the wind is whipping off the river at 40 mph, remember that Chicago has an underground Pedway system. You can get surprisingly close to One North Wacker without ever facing the "Chiberia" elements.
- Evaluate the "Flight to Quality" for your own firm. If you are considering a lease here, look at the "One North" floor specifically. Don't just look at the raw office space. The value is in the common areas where your employees will actually spend their "third time"—the gaps between meetings and deep work.
- Lunch options are tactical. You’re in the heart of the Loop. You’ve got the high-end stuff like Beatnik on the River nearby for client dinners, but for a quick bite, the building’s own internal offerings are geared toward the busy professional. Use them to save that 20 minutes you'd lose walking to a crowded Chipotle.
One North Wacker Drive isn't just a point on a map. It’s the anchor of the modern Chicago skyline. Whether you're admiring the engineering of the glass walls or negotiating a multi-million dollar deal on the 40th floor, the building serves as a reminder that in architecture—and in business—location and light are everything.