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Overpowering Effect. Now completed except for landscaping and the interior of some floors, the Hancock Center will bring 8,000 new residents and office workers—plus 1,000,000 visitors a year—into a neighborhood that is already congested with cars and people. Some Chicagoans complain that the massive building, designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (TIME cover, Aug. 2), .has an overpowering effect on the far smaller buildings around it. Still, Chicago seems eager to utilize the space provided by the new skyscraper, as evidenced by the fact that 39% of its apartments and 42% of its offices have already been rented. The first tenant to move in was the Chicago advertising agency of Post-Keyes-Gardner Inc. (billings: $45 million), which took over the 35th floor. Despite the prestige of being located in Chicago's newest landmark, the agency will not use the John Hancock Center's name as an address on its letterheads. One of its clients is another insurance company.
* Just 17 ft. shorter than Manhattan's Empire State Building, it could go no higher because of local zoning laws and Federal Aviation Agency restrictions.