The Best Skyscraper Next To The Kennedy Is Now Open
There are some fine skyscrapers lining the Kennedy Expressway these days. Some people are fond of Arkadia and it’s vaguely Olympic parking podium. Others are partial to Skybridge and its deconstructionist whimsy. There are even those who like Presidential Towers, if only for its pioneering ability to transform a neighborhood. But the star of the I-90/94 runway show is now 727 West Madison. 727 West Madison (Courtesy...
A 727’s View of 727 West Madison
Ok, maybe Joe Zekas at YoChicago! didn’t fire up an actual Boeing 727 to take these photos. But Air Joe One is close enough, and from the sky we get a pretty good idea of how 727 West Madison is shaping up. The answer is: “nicely.” 727 topped out a couple of weeks ago and the good people over at FitzGerald Associates sent over a description of what they were thinking when they put together the sexy beast of a...
Getting A-round to 727 West Madison
Chicago’s latest round skyscraper is climbing over Greektown, the Kennedy Expressway, and the West Loop beyond. 727 West Madison (née One South Halsted) sprouted in what used to be the parking lot for the Crowne Plaza hotel, on the southeast corner of Madison and Halsted. It’s a Fifield project designed by Fitzgerald Associates, and is letting everyone know that it’s OK to build skyscrapers with curves again in...
New Greektown Tower Puts the O in Opa!
Move over simit, the next big round thing to hit Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood is about to sprout on the corner of Madison and Halsted. 727 West Madison has been given its full building permit from the City of Chicago. Construction crews may now build Fifield and F&F Realty their full 45-story skyscraper in all its circular glory. A prominent location on the edge of the Kennedy Expressway along the city’s east-west...
Groundbreaking For New Landmark Greektown Skyscraper
If you’ve been pining for a new, round-shaped skyscraper in downtown Chicago, then we have good news for you. The cylindrical tower formerly known as 1 South Halsted is officially under construction. Groundbreaking ceremonies were recently held for what is now being called 727 West Madison, the 44-story FitzGerald Associates design which features a round vertical shaft rising from a parking podium in the soon-to-be-former Crowne...
Something Round This Way Comes
Skyscraper nerds (myself included) across Greektown are shouting Opa! this week as word spreads like flaming saganaki that the One South Halsted tower has been given a green light for construction by the city. FOUNDATIONS AND STRUCTURAL-ONLY TO UNDERSIDE OF 8TH FLOOR FOR PROPOSED 44-STORY MIXED USE TOWER WITH 375 PROPOSED PARKING SPACES. Though the building is going by the nom de plume of 727 West Madison, it’s unmistakably the...
Crews Caught Planting Skyscraper Seeds at 1 South Halsted
Downstate farmers finished planting their crops months ago. But in downtown Chicago, every season is skyscraper season. And it was Greektown Spy Ryan who dropped a dime on our Tip Line when he saw the special crews required to plant skyscraper seeds were busy at work at 1 South Halsted yesterday. Of course, there are no such thing as skyscraper seeds. And what Ryan shared with us is a picture of soil sampling crews getting an idea...
1 South Halsted: Drill, Baby, Drill!
It is perhaps Greektown’s most anticipated skyscraper since Skybridge. One South Halsted is one of the few West Loop-area tower proposals that hasn’t been met with blind fanatical hatred by unhinged local NIMBYs. In fact, its design has made it a favorite, and one of the buildings we most often receive e-mail about asking, “Is it going up yet? How about now? How about now? What about now?” Well, the answer...
One South Halsted: Greektown’s Unbuilt Column
Recently we sat down with the principals at FitzGerald Associates to talk about a lot of things. Naturally, one of the items that came up was the firm’s much-anticipated One South Halsted project. The 46-story cylindrical tower was approved by the city a little over three years ago, and since then… nothing. Until Michael De Rouin told us, “It may finally be starting to move forward here. We’ll see.” Editor:...
Another Greektown Tower Gets The Green Light
The City of Chicago’s Zoning committee has approved plans for a new skyscraper to be built at 1 South Halsted Street. One South Halsted will be a 46-story residential apartment tower that will go up in what is now a surface parking lot for the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It’s directly across the street from the landmark Skybridge tower (1 North Halsted Street), but with its mass pushed towards the highway instead of set back from...
