A new tower proposal unveiled last night to a packed audience could become one of the tallest buildings in Chicago, and the tallest for the South Loop neighborhood. Developer Crescent Heights and architect Rafael Viñoly revealed a 76-story tower plan for 113 E. Roosevelt Road that might not just be one building, but possibly twin skyscrapers for the south end of Grant Park. The project would be Crescent Heights' first new construction project for Chicago, and the aim would be to "anchor the south end of Grant Park." The almost modular looking project would be built in phases and could ultimately produce nearly 800 new apartments for the area. Because of the sheer scale of the development, the plan would include apartments of varying sizes, floor plans and prices. According to Viñoly, the plan would present a number of options for folks in different price ranges and needs, stating that the project is "not just an architectural idea, but an urban design idea."
Looks like we have our first revamped project design for the two-acre parcel at Roosevelt & Michigan, as architect Stanley Saitowitz has renderings prepared for a 64-story building (by our count). Skyscraper Page user Ardecila posted the images this morning. The long-vacant site has a new owner/developer in Miami-based Crescent Heights and, pending confirmation, it sure seems like they're keen on making a big splash along the city's most iconic streetwall...
This thing is massive. It looks like it takes up two blocks. It might be a bit clunky, but the facade is more interesting than just about any going up in Chicago right now or any that have gone up in the past couple years.
Those sky gardens are ****'n BAD ASS. Great design. As a landlord of a condo literally one block away, I wouldn't mind it if this building blocked my view (err... my renter's view) of th' Lake. Adds a good bit more to the "critical mass" of the South Loop both in terms of skyline scale/size and residential population.
Is this Stanley Saitowitz designed tower coming to Chicago's South Loop? According to an inquiry to Natoma Architects last year, a rep from the San Francisco based architecture and design firm basically told us "Don't hold your breath". In late 2012, developer Crescent Heights purchased a two acre site at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Roosevelt Road, and last April, renderings for a sleek glass tower supposedly planned for the site surfaced online. However, yesterday afternoon new renderings for the mystery tower were spotted on Buzz Buzz Home. The renders also appear on Stanley Saitowitz' website.
---
Simply dubbed "The Chicago", the tower appears to be quite large in size, though not gargantuan and features some unusual design cues. Previous guesses speculated that the tower could contain up to 1,200 residential units and either 1,500 hotel rooms or 325,000 square feet of office space in a 70 story tower.
Saitowitz has been very prolific in San Francisco, primarily with low and mid-rise buildings such as 8Octavia. This would likely be his tallest and largest commission to date.
When you look at Chicago from above, the fact that Grant Park is not completely edged with skyscrapers on the south side annoys me. Like a picture frame with only three sides.
So the position and height of the building more than the design pleases me. One day Chicago will completely surround the park on all sides and it will truly be a front yard type deal.
While not unattractive per se, this proposal is far too massive for that site and achieves the quality of "ugly monstrosity" contextually.
Wasn't there a master plan, at least before the crash of 2008, to build four more slender condo towers - two on that parcel to join the existing One Museum Park and One Museum Park West? I guess the planning at Central Station is a little more flexible than at Lake Shore East.
I hope this proposal fails and they build the two slender towers instead.
I'd expect a redesign if this development moves forward soon. The trend now is for condo towers with far fewer units targeting wealthy buyers with cash, not those who require a mortgage.
^^ I like the size of this one over those previous proposals. I think this design gives the southern end of the skyline a bit more mass. And there's always the opportunity to add some slender towers in the future to balance it out.
That'd mean floor heights of probably a bit under 3m (given the need for taller mechanical floors). That seems unlikely for a new residential property of this scale and type in the U.S.
On Wednesday we posted about some activity in the form of surveyors at the high-profile vacant lot at the southeast corner of Roosevelt and Michigan.
Massing Model for Building
@ SE Corner of
Michigan & Roosevelt?
Well yesterday we received a tip from a reader that a poster on skyscrapperpage.com had some more rumors/information on this corner:
Hello all, First time poster on SkyscraperPage. I recently moved to Chicago and also from skyscrapercity to skyscraperpage. I am a Landscape Architect for a great landscaping company in Chicago.
I scanned back through the last 50 pages of the forum and see a lot of great projects in the pipeline! I didn't see anything about a project being bid in our commercial estimating department right now (but I could easily have overlooked). It's a 50+ story scraper just off Grant Park. It has a series of step backs with green roofs. I'll try to get more info about the exact location and who the architects are if this project has not already been reported in here.
I look forward to contributing photos and whatever comes across my path to the forum. Cheers!
As the thread goes on, it becomes clear that the parcel of land the reader is talking about is none-other than the the lot at Michigan and Roosevelt:
So the project is called Grant Park Tower III. It is on the south side of the park. Architect is Rafael Vinoly. I counted over 70 floors - parapet height is 830'. I did a google search and it appears that it is a project back from the dead with an overhaul on the design. Many step backs with cool pocket green roofs.
The OLD design is too massive to work well at this location in my opinion. A more slender tower or the same tower but rotated 90 degrees would have worked much better.
The design is very 80's arcade. A little over the top, very grimy in a bladerunner sense.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
SkyscraperCity Forum
139.4M posts
1.1M members
Since 2002
A truly global community dedicated to skyscrapers, cities, urban development, and the metropolitan environment. Join us to share news, views and fun about architecture, construction, transport, skylines, and much more!