Construction / General Contractor
Built forgenerations.
Commercial + residential construction since 1952. Steel, concrete and craft from Chicago.
- Est.
- 1952
- HQ
- Chicago, IL
- Live sites
- 19
On site now
- Wacker Drive TowerFacade86%
- Calumet Mill Ext.Steel64%
- O’Hare Hangar 7Foundations22%
- Evanston LibraryInteriors71%
- Naperville ClinicPrecon9%
- Lakeview FlatsFrame48%
01Who we are
We don’t simply construct buildings. We create places designed to endure — with purpose, precision and permanence.
Three generations of Nowaks have built across the Midwest since 1952. We still self-perform our concrete and steel, and the person who signs your contract still answers the phone.
- 880 people on our payroll
- 3 offices — Chicago, Milwaukee, Gary
- 19 active sites today
02Sectors
Four ways
we build
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Project counts are demo values.
03Featured projects
Recent work
- Project
- Wacker Drive Tower
- Sector
- Commercial
- Location
- Chicago, IL
- Size
- 610,000 sq ft
- Budget
- $185M–$205M
- Timeline
- 38 months
- Completed
- 2025
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Project names, budgets and figures are demo values.
04By the numbers
Measured
in decades
- Founded1952Goose Island, Chicago
- Projects delivered450+Since 1952
- Square feet built34MAcross the Midwest
- On-time delivery97%Last 10 years
- Repeat clients81%Of 2025 revenue
- People on payroll880Three offices
Demo values for a fictional company.
05Process
Plan. Permit.
Build. Hand over.
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01
Plan
Every project begins with a clear understanding of the site, the people and the purpose behind the building.
- Geotech & survey
- Cost model
- Constructability
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02
Permit
Drawings, engineering and agency reviews run in parallel, so approvals land when the schedule needs them.
- Code review
- City of Chicago permits
- Trade buy-out
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03
Build
Our own superintendents, self-performed concrete and steel, and a safety brief before every shift.
- Self-performed concrete
- Steel erection
- Daily reports
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04
Hand-over
Commissioned systems, trained facility teams, a complete digital record and a warranty walk at year two.
- Commissioning
- As-built model
- Warranty walk
06Safety & trust
Built with
responsibility
Every worker goes home the way they arrived. Every owner is protected by bonding, insurance and a quality programme audited by third parties.
- 0Lost-time incidents · last 2.4M work-hours
- 0.58Experience modification rate (EMR)
- $250MSingle-project bonding capacity
- 100%Insured — general, auto, umbrella, builder’s risk
- LicensedIllinois licensed general contractor · GC-000000 (demo)
- BondedSurety to $250M single / $500M aggregate
- Insured$30M umbrella and builder’s risk on every job
- OSHA 30Every superintendent and foreman
- Quality controlThird-party inspection at every hold point
- ComplianceOSHA, ADA, Chicago building code, prevailing wage
Safety, bonding and insurance figures are demo values.
07About · since 1952
For more than seven decades we’ve combined engineering discipline with craftsmanship to build spaces that outlive trends.
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1952
A steel crew on Goose Island
Anton Nowak starts erecting steel for warehouses along the North Branch.
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1971
Into the Loop
Our first high-rise: a 30-storey office tower on LaSalle Street.
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1998
The second generation
Teresa Nowak opens the industrial group in Gary and the Wisconsin office.
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2014
Self-performing again
We bring concrete and steel crews back in-house — and our schedules shorten by a fifth.
-
2026
880 people, three offices
Chicago, Milwaukee and Gary — still family-owned, still on the tools.
—Client words
Owners who
build with us again
“Building a 44-storey tower over live rail tracks sounded impossible. Northgate made it routine — not one delayed train in three years.”
“They poured new mill foundations thirty feet from a running line. We never lost a shift.”
“Our neighbours sent them a thank-you card. That tells you how they run a site.”
“Historic tax credits, saw-cut concrete and a fixed price. They delivered all three.”
Google rating · demo
231 verified reviews
- 5★93%
- 4★5%
- 3★1%
- 2★1%
- 1★0%
- A+BBB rating (demo)
- ENRTop 100 contractor (demo)
- 81%of revenue from repeat clients
08Careers
Build your
future with us
Contractors are always hiring — and we promote from the field. Our president started as an apprentice ironworker in 1989.
View open positions| Role | Team | Location | Type | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Project Manager | Commercial | Chicago, IL | Full-time | |
| Steel Superintendent | Industrial | Gary, IN | Full-time | |
| Project Engineer | Commercial | Chicago, IL | Full-time | |
| Ironworkers & Carpenters | Self-perform | All regions | Hourly · Union | |
| Preconstruction Estimator | Preconstruction | Milwaukee, WI | Full-time |
Booking preconstruction for 2027