Astoria Tower in the works in the South Loop
Posted 1/4/2007 by liz
Driving past the corner of State and 9th Streets, I noticed construction is underway on Astoria Tower Residences & Spa, a 30-story tower with 241 condos. The Art Deco-inspired development promises panoramic views, high-end appliances, spa bathrooms, a full-time concierge and gourmet kitchens. The building's spa includes a pool, massage areas, two sundecks and a yoga studio, and the high-rise will have significant commercial space. Residents also will be able to tee off at a golf simulator, play a game of billiards or work in the business center at this loaded high-rise, but as construction proceeds, we're most interested in something much more prosaic - the parking.
The second through ninth floors at Astoria will house 224 garage parking spots, but instead of showing blank walls to the neighborhood, architects FitzGerald Associates wrapped residential units and some office space around the core of parking on the exposed sides of the building - State and 9th streets. This allows the high-rise to hide an unsightly garage from view instead of having it dominate the street like so many new towers. This might seem like a minor thing, but if you've seen the dreadful parking bases at many new high-rises, you'll appreciate how much a little creativity from an architect can benefit our built environment.
Comments
1/4/07
Keith said:
I don't think that wrapping residential units and office space around the core of parking on State and 9th streets is a minor thing in the least! I think this is a major plus and I think that this is something that should be required for proposed high-rises in the future.
Anon said:
Or lower the amount of required parking and have the garages underground.
Keith said:
A week or two ago, I was actually approached by someone who is running for Alderman in the 2nd ward (I think it was Doody) who asked if I wanted to sign a petition that would require developers to INCREASE the number of parking spots in proposed buildings. Of course, I respectfully declined
NSH said:
reminds me of 35 e wacker (jewelers building) where the first 14 floors were served by a car elevator where you could drive right up to the floor you needed to do your jewel business, load up the car, and drive your car back on the elvator and drive away
daveydoo said:
I always wondered why more projects didn't have units over the parking to hide the garage. The only reason I could figure was maybe developers balked because it would require too much square footage of corridor and too many stairs/elevators for the number of units they were serving (Can't have units on each side of corridor, etc).
the urban politician said:
Doody sucks. I hope he loses horribly