The building sits on a site of a former Roanoke building (once known as Major Block 2) that once served as a National Weather Service Weather Forecast official climate site and replaced Major Block 1 after the Great Chicago Fire.

A four-story Major Block 1 building, designed by T. V. Widskier, sat on this location until the Great Chicago Fire.

[8] In 1925,[9] the building was built to its current 35 story height by the addition of an adjacent tower to the east of the Madison street frontage.

[10] The 36-story tower was added east of the original structure on the site of the former DeSoto Building at 125-129 West Madison.

[14] According to the press release from the city announcing the landmark promotion, the building's terra cotta ornamentation is derived from Portuguese Gothic precedents.

[15] Today the building is leased by small service industry firms, such as second-floor tenant Thomas P. Gohagan & Co., which arranges travel trips and tours for non-profit organizations.

[16] The building qualified for the landmark Class L tax status,[17] which makes it eligible for twelve years of reduced property taxes and other economic incentives for repair and rehab of historic buildings[18] In order to perform the renovation the owners took out a $43.3 million loan against the property according to Form 8-K filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

[23] By January 2014, Reschke had prevailed in a legal battle and secured financing for a $68 million construction loan to convert the building into a Residence Inn.

[25] On September 21, 2015, the building opened for business as the largest Residence Inn in the world with 380 rooms and 7500 square feet of meeting space after $136 million in renovations over two years.