Second Leiter Building Second Leiter Building The Second Leiter Building, also known as the Leiter II Building, the Sears Building, One Congress Center, and Robert Morris Center, is located at the northeast corner of South State Street and East Congress Parkway in Chicago, Illinois. The building is not to be confused with the present Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, constructed and owned by the famous nationwide mail-order firm Sears, Roebuck & Company. This landmark of the Chicago school of architecture gained fame for being one of the earliest commercial buildings constructed with a metal skeleton frame remaining in the United States. Built
Joshua Sears Building "SEARS". The second entrance is centered on the east facade and bears many of the same features: pressed metal pediments, etc. The Sears Building was built in 1891 by Boston millionaire, philanthropist and Kirkland investor Joshua Montgomery Sears as part of the speculative land boom following Peter Kirk's proposal of building a steel producing mecca that would rival Pittsburgh on the east side of Lake Washington. The building cost $18,000 to build, at the time the most expensive being built in Kirkland outside of the steel mill itself. The bricks were pressed from local clay at Peter Kirk's own brick