Altman Advisors’ Chicago roots run deep, and we are proud to be included in the Chicago Tribune’s feature article, Willis Tower Still a Trendsetter. Chicago, the city of the big shoulders, Paris on the prairie, the heart of America, is our kind of town. Our Co-Founder and Chairman, Sheldon Altman, was born and raised on its West Side. He followed his intellectual hero, Milton Friedman, to the University of Chicago, and then spent over fifty years helping families “pursue their versions of the American dream, put their kids through college, and retire.”
For Altman Advisors, making our home in Chicago’s most recognized icon was the realization of our American dream. The 110-story, 4 million square foot building was the tallest in the world when it was completed in 1973. The bold, innovative project set a new tone for downtown Chicago and, along with the Standard Oil Building, made the Chicago Loop neighborhood a mecca of first-class office buildings. Its unique design, using nine bundled steel tubes instead of the usual internal columns, allowed it to go higher than any previous structure, be incredibly strong, but flexible enough to sway in the wind.
Known and admired around the world as a representation of the city that it calls home, Chicago’s Willis Tower encompasses Altman Advisors’ values: smart design, sturdy base, high ambitions, big perspective, and a belief in the idea that hard work creates great achievements. That’s why Co-founder and CEO, Benjamin Altman, jumped at the chance to occupy its highest rentable floor in 2016, which is not only the highest business office in Chicago, but in the Western Hemisphere.[i] We also utilized its image in our logo. For us, it represents the best of Chicago and America.