New Residential Tower Targets a Different Loop Dweller
For much of The Loop’s recent renaissance, the people moving downtown were college students and young urban professionals in search of the excitement of the big city. Sure, there were pockets of older urban pioneers along Randolph Street and a few other crannies, but they were pretty much a statistical rounding error. May 2019 rendering of 424 South Wabash Now a Florida company wants to bring the older set to the neighborhood in...
Less Height, More Parking: 352 North Union Moving Ahead
It’s been a couple of years since we last heard a peep out of 352 North Union. But it appears that Vancouver’s Onni Group is ready to get busy on the 450-foot residential tower in Chicago’s Fulton River District. 2015 rendering of 352 North Union (on the right) Except that it’s not going to be 450 feet tall anymore. The City of Chicago recently approved the developer’s request to shorten the building down...
River North Proposal Could Ace Two More Parking Lots
A three-part proposal in River North will see a seven-story building preserved, a new six-story building built next door, and a new 15-story office building around the corner. All while erasing two surface parking lots from Chicago’s land use map. The trio was tipped by 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly in a note to his constituents. The location of 308 West Erie (Base map via Apple Maps) The building that will get a new life is...
Another Downtown Parking Lot About to Bite The Dust
When we started this publication 16 years ago, one of the questions we were often asked is why there were so many surface parking lots in downtown Chicago. The reasons are complex, ranging from people banking land to sell when it inevitably becomes worth more, to Chicago being less space constrained than cities like New York and London, so car adoption was higher. There are others, but research we did about a decade ago showed that...
Another Hotel+Residential Tower Wants to Squeeze in On Michigan Avenue
It’s been almost two years since we first showed you the renderings someone dropped in our tip line of a potential new skyscraper for 300 North Michigan Avenue. Now it looks like those pictures were the genuine article. March 2019 rendering of 300 North Michigan Avenue 300 NMA will kill an unremarkable brick building kitty-corner from Michigan Plaza. It used to house Chicago’s most depressing Walgreens, and a few offices...
1,011-Foot-Tall Skyscraper Ready To Start Across From Holy Name Cathedral
You know we live in interesting times when news of a 76-story skyscraper moving forward is the second biggest news of the week. That’s where we are now with One Chicago Square (740 North State Street). Rendering of One Chicago Square Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the developers of the project in the parking lot across the street from Holy Name Cathedral have gotten the money in order to begin construction. It comes...
Ten New Skyscrapers Proposed For Chicago’s South Loop
Two weeks ago we told you that there were once again plans to deck over the Metra railroad tracks that carve through the east side of the South Loop and put up a new neighborhood. Now we know it will be called One Central, and we know it will be huge. March 2019 rendering of One Central (via Landmark Development) Landmark Development unveiled its proposal at a public meeting tonight. It will rival The 78, Lincoln Yards, 700 At The...
23-Story Hotel Tower For Chicago’s Restaurant Row
If you love eating in Chicago’s Restaurant Row, you may soon get a chance to sleep there, too. A New York developer wants to build a 23-story hotel tower between the city’s beloved Alhambra Palace restaurant, and extremely competent food, wine and music joint, City Winery. 1234 West Randolph would be a skosh over 304 feet tall with 289 rooms, and both a pool and a bar on the roof. If you want to sleep there, get a Lyft or...
Lincoln Yards Passes Zoning, Finance Is Next
There’s an expression the kids used to use that goes, “Save the drama for your mama.” Chicago City Hall must have been full of mothers today when city council’s Zoning committee voted to approve the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project. Rendering of Lincoln Yards (Via Sterling Bay) The drama bubbled up from the minutiae of parliamentary procedure. The short version is that when 46th Ward Alderman James Cappleman...
Controversial Lincoln Yards Development Hours Away From Zoning Vote
One of the most controversial development projects in recent Chicago history is scheduled to go before city council’s Zoning Committee Thursday. What happens at City Hall could determine if the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project goes from beset to beleaguered. Diagram of the January 2019 Lincoln Yards plan Even before Sterling Bay unveiled its plans to redevelop the industrial zone formerly occupied by the A. Finkl & Sons...
