Dive Brief:
- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday that construction will begin this summer on a $1 billon, 95-story, 1,200-foot-tall hotel-condominium tower that, when complete, will be the third-tallest building in the city, Crain’s Chicago Business reported.
- The 400 condos will sell for as much as $1,750 a square foot, and 20% of the skyscraper’s units are already under contract.
- City administration officials estimate that the project, which was designed by Jeanne Gang and should take four years to complete, will generate 2,000 construction jobs, 500 post-completion, full-time positions and millions in tax revenue, Curbed Chicago reported.
Dive Insight:
The project, a joint venture between China's Dalian Wanda Group and Magellan Development Group, marks the biggest Chinese real estate investment in Chicago and one of the biggest in the country, according to WGN-TV.
The summer start date should give developers time to finalize the financing package, and project officials said they may bring in up to $200 million through the EB-5 visa process, which permits foreigners to obtain U.S. residency in exchange for an investment in a qualified project.
In December, Hudson Yards developers Related Cos and Oxford Properties Group announced a $5 billion financing package, and a portion of that represented EB-5 investors. Developers said the money will be used to build a 90-story office building, a 1-million-square-foot mall and an observation deck that, when complete, will cost $20 billion and feature more than 17 million square feet of office, retail and residential space. According to Crain's, critics of EB-5 investment have said that the program is used to fund low-quality projects and is ripe for fraud.
