Landmark Status Proposed for Loop’s Central YMCA Headquarters Building

The former Central YMCA Headquarters at 19 S. LaSalle St. in the Loop would be designated as an official Chicago landmark under a proposal introduced to City Council today by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The building was constructed in 1893 and served as the home for the YMCA's Chicago branch through the 1970s. Originally 12 stories, a 1913 addition redesigned the structure with Classical Revival elements. The building is one of two remaining Loop structures designed by William Le Baron Jenney, an architect widely recognized as "the father of the skyscraper."

The designation would protect the building's exterior elevations and align with a planned $64 million office-to-residential conversion of the interior led by Envoi Partners.

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