JPMorgan's Chase Tower overhaul now priced above $800M

Jamie Dimon now puts the cost of JPMorgan Chase’s ongoing renovation of its namesake Loop tower at more than $800 million, the first full estimate the bank has given since the project was announced in February 2024.

Why it matters

Chase Tower, the 60-story building at 10 S. Dearborn St. that houses up to 7,200 of JPMorgan’s roughly 14,500 Chicago-area employees, is one of the largest single office commitments in downtown Chicago as other banks and employers retrench. A fresh eight-figure cost estimate on a multi-year renovation, delivered by the CEO himself, signals to the Loop’s office market that at least one anchor tenant is doubling down rather than shrinking its footprint, at a moment when the submarket is starved for that kind of conviction.

The numbers

City of Chicago building permits for 10 S. Dearborn St. show the renovation moving floor by floor: permit 101068748 ($13.5 million) covering floors 8, 11, 13, 14 and 34, permit 101070533 ($11 million) for floors 9, 36, 37, 42 and 44, and permits 101080068 and 101079419 (both $8.5 million) for additional floors, among dozens of smaller filings since 2025. A revision this summer, permit 101085515, approved in July and issued in August, lists JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. directly as the property owner and covers an expanded 57th-floor conference center. The bank’s original 2024 announcement projected more than 970 local construction jobs and $264 million in added economic activity for Cook County.

What’s next

The buildout, designed by Gensler and covering a redesigned lobby, plaza and mezzanine along with modernized office floors, is set to finish in mid to late 2027. For Loop landlords and brokers, the real test is whether JPMorgan’s spending signals a broader flight to quality that pulls tenants out of older towers, or whether it is a one-bank bet tied to its own headquarters status. Either way, the permit trail will keep surfacing which floors are next. More on the market: Chicago.