Inland Steel Building

The Inland Steel Building is a skyscraper at 30 West Monroe Street in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the city's defining commercial high-rises of the post–World War II era of modern architecture.^[1][4] Its principal designers were Bruce Graham and Walter Netsch of the architectural firm SOM.^[1] The building is managed and leased by MB Real Estate. The Inland Steel Building is designated a Chicago Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Inland Steel Building
Inland Steel Building in May 2007
General information
Location	30 W. Monroe Street[1] Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41.8810°N 87.6291°W / 41.8810; -87.6291
Construction started	1956
Completed	1957[1]
Owner	New York Life Insurance Company
Height
Roof	332 feet (101.2 m)[2]
Design and construction
Architect(s)	SOM[1]
Structural engineer	SOM
Inland Steel Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	30 W. Monroe St., Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates	41°52′51″N 87°37′43″W
Area	0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
Built	1958
Architect	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Graham, Bruce & Walter Netsch
Architectural style	International Style
NRHP reference No.	09000024[3]
Added to NRHP	February 18, 2009

Architecture

The use of brushed stainless steel cladding reflects the corporation that commissioned the building as its headquarters, the Inland Steel Company.^[1]

The placement of all structural columns on the building's perimeter—and the consolidation of elevators and other service functions in a separate tower—allowed for a highly flexible interior floor layout with no interior columns.^[1] This design is a good example of the widely held principle of the era, "form follows function" (Louis Sullivan). The lobby features a sculpture of gold, stainless steel and enameled copper by Richard Lippold entitled Radiant I.^[5] In 2009, the owners announced plans to renovate the lobby.^[6]

The building was the prototype for SOM's much larger One Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York City, completed in 1961. Key architectural and structural concepts incorporated in the building influenced those used in the design and construction of the Cooperative Insurance Tower in Manchester, United Kingdom, which was completed in 1962.

Landmark designations

The Inland Steel Building was honored in 1960 by the then-new Commission on Chicago Architectural Landmarks. A metallic plaque related to the earlier designation is in front of the building on Monroe Street.^[7] That commission was later replaced by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks, which designated the Inland Steel Building as a Chicago Landmark on October 7, 1998.^[1] A square plaque related to that later landmark designation is next to the metallic plaque.^[8]

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.^[9][6]

Sales

Capital Properties LP bought the building in 2007 for $57.25 million.^[10] In 2019, Capital Properties placed the Inland Steel Building for sale for $88 million.^[11][12] New York Life, which had placed a mortgage loan on the building, obtained it in January 2025.^[13][14]