June 21, 2005
Hyatt Center Office Tower Named Best New Commercial Building
by Friends of Downtown

The Hyatt Center Office Tower, one of Chicago's newest downtown commercial structures, recently was named Best New Commercial Building by the Friends of Downtown organization at their 2005 Annual Awards ceremony. The Friends of Downtown is a local association founded in 1981 and describing itself as "…the voice for intelligent planning and urban design for downtown Chicago." Their Annual Awards recognize "…outstanding achievements that promote downtown…" in a number of categories ranging from best new commercial building to best new institutional building to 'coolest thing'. The 47-story Hyatt Center Office tower, located at 71 South Wacker Drive, is the headquarters for Hyatt Corporation and its affiliates and houses major law and financial services firms. Designed by architect Pei Cobb Freed & Partners with Chicago-based associate architect A. Epstein and Sons International, Inc., the building was begun in late 2002 with beneficial occupancy beginning in late 2004. The structure includes state-of-the-art building systems, technologies and security. In addition to Pei Cobb Freed and Epstein, the project team includes developers Higgins Development Partners, LLC and Pritzker Realty Group, L.P plus construction managers Bovis Lend Lease. A. Epstein and Sons International, Inc. is a Chicago-based architecture, engineering, construction, interior and graphic design firm. Founded in 1921, Epstein maintains its Chicago headquarters plus offices in Los Angeles, California; San Antonio, Texas; Warsaw, Poland; Tel Aviv, Haifa and Beersheba, Israel; and Shenzhen and Beijing, China.

For more information on Epstein: www.epstein-isi.com

For more information on Hyatt: www.hyatt.com

For more information on Friends of Downtown: www.friendsofdowntown.org