Palmolive Building
About this property
The Palmolive Building, formerly the Playboy Building, is a 37-story Art Deco building at 919 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Designed by Holabird & Root, the Palmolive Building was completed in 1929 as the home of the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. Playboy Enterprises purchased the leasehold in 1965 and the structure was renamed the Playboy Building. It was home to the editorial and business offices of Playboy magazine until 1989, when Playboy moved its offices to 680 N Lake Shore Drive. Playboy had sold the leasehold in 1980 and signed a 10-year lease that expired in 1990. The new leaseholder renamed the building 919 North Michigan Avenue. During the time that Playboy was in the building, the word P-L-A-Y-B-O-Y was spelled out in 9-foot (2.7 m) illuminated letters on the north and south roofline. The building was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2000, and it was added to the federal National Register of Historic Places in 2003. In 2001, the building was sold to developer Draper and Kramer who, with Booth Hansen Architects, converted it to residential use, with the first two floors dedicated to upscale office and retail space. High-end condos make up the rest of the building. The new owners restored the building's name to the Palmolive Building. The business address remains 919 North Michigan Avenue; however, the residential address is 159 East Walton Place. Notable residents of the building include Vince Vaughn, who bought a 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m2) triplex penthouse encompassing the 35th, 36th and 37th floors for $12 million. In February 2013, Vaughn offered the penthouse for sale as a pocket listing for $24.9 million. However, after multiple price cuts he chose in May 2016 to divide the unit in two, offering one for $8.5 million, and the other smaller unit for $4.2 million. A beacon named for the aviator Charles Lindbergh was added to the building in 1930. It rotated a full 360 degrees and was intended to help guide airplanes safely to Midway Airport. The beacon beamed for several decades, and ceased operation in 1981 following complaints from residents of nearby buildings. Media related to Palmolive Building at Wikimedia Commons Palmolive Building Landmark Residences Archived 2006-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Palmolive Building
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Questions about this property
When was Palmolive Building listed on the National Register?
Palmolive Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 2003.
What type of historic resource is Palmolive Building?
Palmolive Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Palmolive Building?
The period of significance for Palmolive Building is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Palmolive Building?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Palmolive Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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