What Grows During a Chicago Winter? Skyscrapers!
We’re still months away from the triumphant, intrepid return of the tulips and daffodils in Chicago’s parks, parkways, and park-like medians. But amid the gloom of day and threat of snow, the city is still able to raise a bumper crop of our favorite wintertime produce: skyscrapers. For example, the concrete beanstalk sprouting at 110 North Wacker Drive, seen below in a photograph from Loop Spy Chris. According to Goettsch...
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...
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...
Digging Deep for a 51-Story Wacker Drive Skyscraper
It’s been a short while since the former GGP Building at 110 North Wacker Drive bit the dust. Now that the dust has been removed, construction crews are getting down to business. Way down. Like two stories below ground. As you can see in the photograph above sent in by Loop Spy Chris, crews are already below the level of Lower Wacker Drive, so we should see caissons being build fairly soon. When complete, the new Goettsch...
Goodbye, Riverside Shed; Hello 51-Story Skyscraper
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a skyscraper go from proposal to paper to approval to demolition this quickly, but here we are. 110 North Wacker, the 51-story Geottsch Partners-designed skyscraper, is about to replace 110 North Wacker, the low-slung Midcentury office building that was formerly the home of General Growth Properties. Loop Spy Justin sent in pictures of demolition crews getting ready to do their thing at...
Proposed Wacker Drive Tower Beefs Up Before It’s Built
As the nation’s obesity crisis afflicts more and more of our young people, a new victim has been identified as suffering from unexpected, premature girth: The proposed skyscraper at 110 North Wacker Drive. This once svelte shaft of glass and steel that is intended to replace the old General Growth Properties headquarters building has unexpectedly bulked out, adding 100,000 square feet to the 50-something-story tower, while...
Here’s Why the Army May Scuttle Plans to Build a 51-Story Tower in The Loop
A few days before Thanksgiving, the local office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a notice on its web site. It’s not one of the usual places that one looks for architecture news, so it took a few weeks for the notice to surface. (We’ve copied as much of the thing as we could below for your convenience. Full PDF version here.) What it says is that the army is looking into the proposal to build a 51-story...
Taking a Whack at the 53-Story Skyscraper Proposed for 110 North Wacker
One thing is very quickly leading to another when it comes to the 80-story skyscraper proposed for 110 North Wacker. The project was only just recently announced, and a week later the paperwork has already been filed with the city to make it a reality. For a building of that size, with no anchor tenant, developer Howard Hughes Corporation is certainly moving along like a spruce goose. The new Goettsch Partners-deesigned tower will...
