Dive Brief:
- Developers have proposed an 800-foot-tall riverside office tower for an upscale Chicago district, according to Curbed Chicago.
- Houston-based Howard Hughes Company and Chicago-based Riverside Investment and Development would replace an existing low-rise building currently on the 1-acre site with a 1.35-million-square-foot, office space-only skyscraper.
- The plan for the tower, which would be the tallest office high-rise built in the city since 1990, would also include a public park and riverwalk. If Hughes and Riverside can find an anchor tenant, they said construction — led by Clark Construction — would take about three years.
Dive Insight:
The Chicago riverfront is a hot development area right now, most notably for a variety of planned and in-progress mixed-use and residential developments. In September, a Lendlease-led joint venture began construction on the $1.5 billion Chicago Riverline project, which will feature 3,600 residences, a mix of townhouses and for-rent and for-sale condominium and apartment towers. Architecture firm Perkins + Will has also proposed an all-wood skyscraper for the waterfront, the 80-story River Beech Tower. According to its conceptual design, the project would feature a center atrium and an aluminum veneer over a lattice of wood beams.
Perhaps the most ambitious project planned alongside the Chicago River is Related Cos.' multibillion-dollar, mixed-use development that the company said would take 15 years to build. The Hudson Yards developer's Midwest division said the project would revitalize the 62-acre former riverfront rail yard, which most recently was the site of a makeshift homeless camp. The complex would include millions of square feet of residential, office and retail space.
