Chicago’s New Second-Tallest Building Gets Plan Commission Approval
The biggest thing to hit Michigan Avenue since Cap Streeter’s 35-ton steamboat has been approved by the Chicago Plan Commission. Tribune Tower East is now passed the hardest parts of its approval process, and will soon be legally permitted to climb 1,442-feet into the Chicago skyline. November 2019 rendering of Tribune Tower East (via CIM Group) In spite of numerous tweaks over the last year, up top the CIM Group and Golub...
Plan For 113-Story Magnificent Mile Skyscraper Hits City Hall
A new 1,400-foot-tall skyscraper slated for the Magnificent Mile has taken a big step forward on the shiny glass road from fantasy to fantastic. Plans for Tribune Tower East have officially been filled with the city. January 2020 diagram of Tribune Tower East November 2019 rendering of Tribune Tower East (via CIM Group) The building will have 113 floors of hotel rooms, apartments, and condos; and climb 1,442 feet into the sky. This...
113-Story Michigan Avenue Tower Refined, Not Chopped
If you were worried that the new super tall skyscraper planned for Chicago’s Magnificent Mile was going to be shortened — or worse, cancelled — you can unclench your buttcheeks; everything is fine. At a public meeting tonight, Los Angeles developer CIM Group and Streeterville’s Golub showed an anxious crowd a revised vision for Tribune Tower East, which they want to put up in what used to be a parking lot behind the...
1,400-Foot-Tall Michigan Avenue Skyscraper Plan “Significantly Revised”
The immense new residential skyscraper planned for the former parking lot behind the building that used to house the Chicago Tribune has been updated. The plan for Tribune Tower East has been “significantly revised” according to 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly’s recent e-mail to his constituents. Now he’s scheduled a public meeting to go over what changes have been made. April 2018 rendering of the proposed...
Restoration of the Village Theater Facade in Old Town Looks Pretty Spiffy
It’s been a very long time since Old Town’s Village Theater stopped entertaining people and became a hulking presence lurking a Starbucks’ throw from the lovely and historic Germania Club next door. Now we’re getting a look at the results of a project to restore that facade to its former splendor. September 2019 construction of Fifteen Fifty on the Park (provided) In the photograph above you can see that...
Awkward Crane Yoga Behind Trib Tower
The transformation of the treasured, historic, landmark Tribune Tower from the offices of a once-mighty media empire into 163 luxury condominiums continues in Streeterville. Some of the world’s most influential writers once parked here. Or at least their bosses did. (Courtesy of Joe Zekas/YoChicago!) The most visible sign of this recently showed up in the parking lot ’round back. That’s where Joe Zekas of YoChicago!...
New Pix of New Building Next to Lincoln Park’s Village Theater
Ordinarily, we love old buildings. It took a while for us to develop an appreciation for the Mid-century Modern aesthetic, and even certain brutalist forms are starting to seem less tacky these days. But when demolition permits were issued for the dump-o-riffic diner building on the corner of North and Clark across from the Chicago History Museum, not a tear dropped on our battle-scarred MacBook Air’s keyboard. And that’s...
Gasp-Worthy Proposal Unveiled for Chicago’s Second-Tallest Skyscraper
As the kids say these days: “Oh. My. God.” That was the reaction — positive and negative — to the proposed new skyscraper unveiled tonight at a public meeting at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. Development duo CIM Group and Golub & Co. pulled the sheet off of a stunning new skyscraper proposal that, at 1,422 feet, would be the second-tallest building in Chicago. It’s planned for the surface parking lot behind the...
We’ll Soon See Michigan Avenue’s Huge New Skyscraper
Remember a few months ago when Alderman Reilly knocked over a pot of beans about the new skyscraper coming to Michigan Avenue? Back then, all we knew was that the planned building could be as much as 1,388 feet tall, making it the third-tallest in Chicago. And at the time, we put together a graphic illustrating what a skyscraper that tall might look like rising out of the Tribune Tower’s parking lot: We also predicted that the...
Old Buildings On The Way Out in Old Town
Last week we told you that sales are now underway at Fifteen Fifty on the Park (1550 North Clark Street), the vintage-inspired building that will cap Clark Street in Old Town. Just days later, the city issued demolition permits for the buildings that are in the way. What’s going away is an unremarkable one-story diner, and an even less interesting two-story retail building. But it’s the first sign that dirt is getting...