http://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...ed-for-streeterville-20140717,0,1320042.storyA 67-story, 500-unit hybrid residential tower designed by notable architect Robert A.M. Stern is proposed for the southwest corner of Grand and Peshtigo by Related Midwest, which has been on a development hot streak for the past few years in Chicago.
At one time, the site had been slated for a 232-unit condo tower that was to be developed years ago by developer Dan McLean, but he lost the Parkview East site in a foreclosure suit. An affiliate of Related Midwest bought the land last August for $24.6 million, according to county property records.
The project, if approved by the city, would seek to capitalize on two trends, namely the strong demand for luxury apartments with bountiful amenities and a lack of new condominium units in downtown Chicago. North of the Chicago River, the only new development is the ultra-luxury Ritz Carlton Residences, along North Michigan Avenue.
Located at 451 E. Grand Ave., Related’s parcel is across the street from 500 Lake Shore Drive, a luxury apartment high-rise it completed last year and is 99 percent leased, according to Tricia Van Horn, a company spokeswoman.
As proposed, the still-unnamed building would tower over its neighbor. It would include 400 apartments and 100 condominiums and a 70,000-square-foot public park also owned by Related would be redesigned. A 900-space underground parking garage already on the site would be maintained.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bennett-tower-kamin-met-1023-20151023-column.htmlArchitects? They design buildings but rarely get their names on them. Two exceptions line State Street: the Hotel Burnham, as in Daniel Burnham, and the Sullivan Center, for Louis Sullivan. Burnham's name also adorns a South Side lakefront park.
Now the list of buildings and parks named for architects is about to grow: Related Midwest, the Chicago division of New York-based Related Cos., will honor the prolific, albeit little-remembered, Chicago architect Edward H. Bennett and name its 843-foot apartment and condo tower at 451 E. Grand Ave. "One Bennett Park."
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"Bennett's a great name," Curt Bailey, Related Midwest's president, said Friday. "Not only does it have a great stature in Chicago architecture. In our opinion, it's been recognized less than it should have been."
Designed by New York architect Robert A.M. Stern (like Bennett, a traditionalist) and due to open in late 2018, the tower won't be the only landing spot for Bennett's name. An adjacent, Related-owned park will be renamed Bennett Park. Both may contain tributes to Bennett — not a bad idea to raise the profile of an architect whose name recognition is no match for Frank Lloyd Wright's.
March 3
They tore down all the trees and the side walk coverings are going up. Moving pretty quickly.
As earth-moving machines continue to scrape, dig, and smooth things out at 451 East Grand Avenue in Streeterville, the next step in the process of building One Bennett Park has made an appearance on the construction site.
Our Streeterville Spy Thomas dropped us a line that the first piece of Case Foundation equipment had arrived on site. That means caisson work is in the cards for the Robert A.M. Stern-designed masterpiece in the north-side neighborhood. Sure enough, when we passed through, the unmistakable combination of blue and gold was busy burrowing into the ground off in the southeast corner of the lot, at Illinois Street and Peshtigo Court.