Every Web Page About the Aon Center is About to Become Wrong
If you’re a fan of Wikipedia, the wannabe encyclopedia that’s the equivalent of asking a bunch of strangers at a bus stop to do your homework, it will soon need to be updated. Along with the 8,643 other web sites that catalog skyscraper heights. Right now, the Aon Center’s “architectural height” is 1,136 feet. That means to the top of the mechanical room that hides all of the HVAC equipment. That space...
110 North Wacker Pushes Above Street Level
The Loop’s newest skyscraper is finally visible to all passers-by, so get ready to gawk. 110 North Wacker was previously only visible to people commuting on Lower Wacker Drive, and tourists taking a Chicago River cruise. Now its concrete elevator core has risen high enough that it can be plainly seen by anyone who cares to cast a glance in its direction. These photos from Loop Spy Chris show the core in full sprout mode on the...
Does Magellan Development’s Vista Tower Deliver on Views? See For Yourself!
If Magellan Development names a new building “Vista,” it should probably have some decent views. And if that building is located on the Chicago River, those views should be somewhat above average. And if the building is 95 stories tall, the views really almost certainly should be singularly spectacular, right? We’re happy to report: Correct on all counts. Joe Zekas, of YoChicago!, went up to the 70-somethingth...
Vista Tower Scrapes Sky In Lakeshore East, Windows Going In
If you’ve been wondering about Magellan Development’s Vista Tower lately — and we know you have — word on the street is that things are progressing nicely. The Studio Gang-designed residential and hotel tower, which will absolutely positively not look anything at all like three adjacent stacks of Chinese take-out boxes, is already tall enough to look down on former Lakeshore East belle of the ball, Aqua. Aqua was designed...
You Get a Skyscraper! And You Get a Skyscraper!
In its most Oprah-riffic maneuver since the great Skyscraper-palooza of 2014, the Chicago Plan Commission approved a slew of new skyscrapers for the Windy City. In a series of votes today, the commission approved plans for 18 new towers for downtown Chicago. To put that into a completely inaccurate and meaningless comparison, it’s like Chicago just got Indianapolis added to its skyscraper menagerie. 700 at the River The Plan...
Downtown Chicago Could Get 11 New Skyscrapers This Week
If there’s a skyscraper nerd in your office, don’t be surprised if he calls in sick on Thursday. That’s the day the Chicago Plan Commission considers the largest number of new skyscrapers for downtown Chicago since August of 2014, when four new towers were on the docket. This time, there are 11 major buildings in play: 700 at the River in River West 1,500 total residences 497 car parking spaces Total FAR: 8.1...
110 North Wacker Gets Boot Straps, Pulls Itself Up Another Two Stories
If you were disappointed that the plan for 110 North Wacker Drive lost its nice setbacks a few months ago, there’s a consolation prize. Developers Howard Hughes, and Riverside Investment and Development have asked the city if they can add two more floors to the skyscraper. What was originally going to be a 51-story tower, then a 53-story tower, has now become a 55-story tower. That is, if the city gives its blessing. Which it...
O, My — Combo Tower to Finish Lakeshore East Puzzle, Expand Pedway
If you’ve ever spent a rainy winter’s eve listening to gospel music on a distant AM radio station, drinking Mr. Pibb out of a Mason jar while putting together a Nancy Drew jigsaw puzzle from Goodwill because your girlfriend left you and took both the dog and the TV remote, then you know the satisfaction that can be found in finally fitting that last cardboard squiggle in place, sealing the edges with your index finger, and...
Lakeshore East Tower Trio Tipped in Text
It looks like the plan to build three new skyscrapers in the northeast corner of Lakeshore East is getting ready to move forward. Ordinance number 2018-7759 has been filed with the city’s zoning committee. The contents of the ordinance have not been made public as of this writing, but it is a request to re-zone the land where Magellan Development and LendLease plan to erect three new bKL-designed skyscrapers, almost completing...
Eye Candy: New Renderings of the Willis Tower Renovation
EQ Office continues its half-billion dollar renovation of Chicago’s tallest building from a place exclusively for office workers and tourists into something more integrated with the evolving neighborhood. To that end, it is including a new food court in Willis Tower’s new retail space, expected to open in 2020. That Gensler-designed retail space is now called “Catalog,” an acknowledgement of Sears, the...
