The Old Post Office

Case study

Connecting 80% of your office building while saving 50% on technology

Case Study: The Old Post Office 2

Case study

OverviewSmart building technology has grown to include a broad array of capabilities that encompass nearly everything about a property, from the materials used in building customized office spaces to how occupants enter a building and reserve meeting rooms. When implemented, these technologies have the power to transform the traditional interactions people have with their workplace, creating a dynamic, engaging environment that establishes a connection between people and place.

At The Old Post Office (TOPO), a major office redevelopment in downtown Chicago, the owner sought to combine magnificent Art Deco design with the latest in smart building technology to deliver the most desirable working environment in the city. The first part of the project was focused on reimagining the building’s existing physical infrastructure, dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. While the property owner, 601W Companies, had an existing foundation to build on, the second part of the project — developing the building’s technology layer — started from a blank slate.

This case study focuses on how 601W Companies, in conjunction with JLL’s Experience Management (XM) team, developed a plan to place best-in-class technology at the heart of a historic building and, in doing so, created significant financial savings while also yielding high engagement among the building’s occupants.

Client since

About the client

Challenge

Solution

Benefit

2019

Redeveloped century-old, 2.5m sq. ft. commercial building in downtown Chicago.

Stakeholders sought technology to make a classic building feel futuristic.

Rolling out a branded app and web platform powered by VTS Rise Buildings that provides a single solution for visitors and the building population.

High occupant engagement with streamlined property operations that delivered significant savings and improved ROI.

sales@vts.com

vts.com/vts-rise

Case Study: The Old Post Office 3

Case study

State of the Art DecoFirst constructed in 1921 and expanded in 1932 to its current footprint, TOPO is one of Chicago’s most iconic architectural landmarks. After a new post office was completed on an adjacent site, the building was vacated in 1997 and sat empty for years. After 601W Companies purchased the building in 2015, a $500 million renovation project was announced with the goal of modernizing the structure without sacrificing its historic character — a project that was completed in 2019. Due in part to its high profile, world class design, and numerous amenities, TOPO has attracted some of the highest profile tenants in the city, playing host to the headquarters and major offices of Walgreens, PepsiCo, Ferrara Candy Company, and Uber among others. In addition to serving the property’s tenants, the building’s beautiful marble lobby and expansive, professionally landscaped rooftop are also available for weddings and events.

With so many carefully thought out shared spaces and amenities, the TOPO team set ambitious targets for building direct relationships not only at the tenant level, but with individual occupants as well. While occupant engagement is a challenge for many office buildings, it’s especially difficult for properties that are undergoing renovations while providing a home to corporate offices and hosting special events. In the case of TOPO, a high traffic building with numerous points of access, enabling people to seamlessly interact with the property and stay on top of the latest building updates, was critically important.

With thousands of visitors coming to the building every day for work, events, and to witness the redevelopment of the historic structure, the building’s owner and JLL’s XM team approached VTS Rise Buildings about providing a communications suite for sharing information with occupants. After further reviewing VTS Rise’s full set of capabilities, TOPO’s management team recognized that the VTS Rise platform could provide nearly all of the functionality and features to not only deliver a great occupant experience, but also manage the operational aspects of the property more efficiently and at a lower cost. This included providing a single system for mobile credentials, visitor management, amenity booking, payments, service requests and preventive maintenance, and much more.

As a result, VTS Rise took the place of several point solutions TOPO had initially considered purchasing. With an estimated cost of over $135,000 for the first year for the technologies the owners had originally scoped, VTS Rise was able to deliver immediate, hard dollar savings of over 50% to the owner — a figure that doesn’t include gains in productivity from using a single solution instead of multiple un-integrated systems and avoiding double data entry.

50%immediate first year hard dollar savings

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Case study

“VTS Rise has made staying in touch with tenants possible. I don’t know how people can do this without VTS Rise.”

Marina P.Community Manager & Concierge

As a result, VTS Rise took the place of several point solutions TOPO had initially considered purchasing. With an estimated cost of over $135,000 for the first year for the technologies the owners had originally scoped, VTS Rise was able to deliver immediate, hard dollar savings of over 50% to the owner — a figure that doesn’t include gains in productivity from using a single solution instead of multiple un-integrated systems and avoiding double data entry.

Furthermore, VTS Rise’s robust data analytics capabilities provide deep insight into how people interact with and move through the property, informing better decision-making and operational efficiency for the property team. VTS Rise’s numerous COVID-related features have also helped TOPO communicate with occupants outside the property and prepare for their return to the office.

The hub of what’s happening nowHaving a real return on its technology investment was a win for the team at TOPO, but it wasn’t the only goal. Another key outcome was achieving measurably high levels of engagement from the building population. By combining VTS Rise’s robust functional and experiential software with VTS Rise’s proprietary hardware, TOPO had all the ingredients for connecting occupants with the property.

By combining so many solutions into one platform, VTS Rise enabled TOPO to give both the property team and occupants everything they needed in one place. They no longer had to deal with multiple apps and websites, remember different logins, or use email or phone calls to get things done.

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Case study

A foundation for what’s nextDespite being in place for just two years, the VTS Rise platform serves as the epicenter for activity at TOPO, enabling a historic building to deploy some of the most advanced technology in the real estate industry. By marrying classic design with best-in-class innovation, the property has quickly emerged as one of the most notable office buildings in the country.

And while the renovations will soon conclude, the building will hardly be static. With VTS Rise deployed and nearly all of the building’s population actively using it, the property can change and adapt to meet occupants’ evolving needs. New features and enhancements, paired with regular communication and programming keep people engaged and excited about being a part of the TOPO community.

TOPO is a unique structure and a renewed hub of Chicago life. With high adoption and continued growth from new and existing tenants, the VTS Rise platform serves as a foundation for achieving the property’s goal of directly engaging all of its occupants.

Elevate your property with VTS Rise. Get your free demo today at vts.com/vts-rise

And the data shows how users are continuously engaging with Post433, TOPO’s branded app powered by VTS Rise and web portal, by accessing functional features, event details, and notifications. Simply put, occupants are using the VTS Rise platform to access information and get real-time updates on what they need to know. The rollout has been so successful that the on-site XM team uses VTS Rise to push all building updates and occupants have indicated that the VTS Rise platform is the preferred method for receiving all property-related communications.

80%of tenants have adopted the Post433 app powered by VTS Rise with over half of the building population interacting with it every month