Babylon in Chicago? New condos tout green roofs

Michigan Avenue Tower I rooftop garden

The green roof is not quite a standard perk in major downtown developments, but it’s not far from it. More and more builders are including green roofs in projects such as Michigan Avenue Tower I (pictured above), and we have to admit, you can thank Hizzoner II for this one. Rich has become obsessed with green roofs, much the way he became obsessed with trees, and while lots of news out of City Hall these days makes Tammany Hall look like Girl Scout camp, the greenery too will be part of his legacy.

Click on “More” below to check out some other creative rooftop gardens in new condo developments. And send us your photos of other interesting rooftops, with or without gardens, and we’ll publish them on Yo.

In addition to building a demo garden on the roof of City Hall, Daley had the Chicago Department of the Environment test effects of green roofs on temperature and stormwater runoff as compared to conventional roofs. The results, which you might be able to link to from here (sorry, city Web site is whacked), proved green roofs beneficial in both categories. Though they collectively don’t yet add up to a big percentage of downtown surface area, there seems to be evidence that they’re already helping to improve air quality too.

How they affect the life quality of condo board presidents, who have to deal with maintenance and repair issues over time, is still being studied.

Centrum Properties got stuck with a massively clunky base, leftover from Ray Chin’s failed Grand Pier project, at its CityFront Plaza development, 240 E Illinois St, but on the upside, it will create the space for a pretty large and stunning garden.

CityFront Plaza's rooftop garden

Catalpa Gardens, at Catalpa just east of Broadway, has made the most of its site, which runs along the el tracks for the CTA’s Red Line. The architects designed a “landscaped tea garden” (yeah, we’re not sure either) on the fourth floor as well as rooftop gardens. At 11 stories, these gardens will be high for the neighborhood and should have good views.

Catalpa Gardens

Lakeside Lofts touts a number of environmental features in its green marketing campaign, most of them fairly cosmetic. One of the substantive ones, though, is a rooftop garden that includes trees and bushes and so, will have the feel of a garden all year long.

Lakeside Lofts

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