News Tower / Former Rockford Register Star Building, Rockford

A Newspaper Landmark On The Skyline

Rock River Current's 2026 coverage ties the building to its long newspaper identity even while describing a new loft plan. That continuity gives the tower its hold on local memory. The former Register Star tower still reads as a media-era landmark first, not simply an empty downtown high-rise.

The Art Deco profile and East State position give the building an outsized role in how downtown Rockford presents itself.

One Big Building, Several Reuse Visions

The 2023 Iconic Energy plan and the 2026 Urban Equity plan work well together because they show how the building kept attracting large, public-facing ideas even when the details changed. Restaurant space, business activity, and downtown foot traffic stayed central in both visions.

That pattern tells us something important about the tower. People keep trying to make it do city-building work.

The Next Plan Aims To Refill The Core

The current News Tower Lofts proposal is not modest. Eighty apartments, a small business emporium, and a riverfront restaurant would put the building back into daily life at several levels at once.

If the project holds, the tower could shift from a former headquarters to a mixed-use engine for the east side of downtown.