The building is considered the "final work" by respected Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and designer Fazlur Rahman Khan.

[1] Completed after his death, the diagonal brace structure is dedicated to Khan, and serves as an architectural nod to his John Hancock Center.

The X formations on the exterior are concrete infill panels which act together to form a truss tube.

Onterie Center is the first concrete high-rise in the world to use diagonal shearwalls at the building perimeter.

In 2023, the Chicago City Council approved the conversion of the structure's vacant office portion, on floors 6-10, into a 101-room hotel.