A couple summers ago, Gazette Chicago reported that Skokie-based F&F Realty planned to build a 514-unit apartment building with “hotel-style amenities” and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail space at the southeast corner of Halsted and Madison streets, a site that currently serves as a parking lot for the Crowne Plaza hotel.
This morning I stumbled upon the details of One South Halsted at the FitzGerald Associates Architects‘ website, and the proposal sure looks like a doozy. At 50 stories, its tower would stand noticeably higher than the neighboring Skybridge, currently the tallest tower west of the Kennedy Expressway.
FitzGerald’s writeup calls the location “arguably the most visible in the city,” and says its design would “place an iconic tower adjacent to the eight-lane below-grade expressway” while “creating a smaller presence that includes first-floor commercial space” to fit with “the smaller scale of the city’s bustling Greektown neighborhood.”
The 822,200 square-foot complex would feature 30,800 square feet of commercial space, 520 parking spaces, banquet halls, a business center, and a pool and health club to be shared with the adjacent hotel. In return, the hotel would provide housekeeping and room service to the apartment tower’s residents.
It’s worth noting that this project was not one of the nine new rental developments Crain’s listed last week.
A couple of updates, straight from FitzGerald Associates:
– The tower would be 80 feet taller than Skybridge.
– The proposal is still just that. The developer is still working through the approval process, which is probably why the tower didn’t make the Crain’s list.
It seems like a good plan but they need to scale it down a little, it is too big for the area and will stick out like a sore thumb.
Too big for the area? Are you serious? It is 5 blocks west of downtown.
Who cares if it sticks out like a sore thumb? If no one ever built anything that didn’t exactly fit the character of its surroundings, there would never be progress.
Considering the proximity to mass transit, highways and downtown. The density is entirely appropriate.
Is is economically viable? Who knows, may have to be scaled back just to get built. But because it “will stick out like a sore thumb” is just asinine.
I don’t think it sticks out that much. There are a couple of highrises along the highway in the West Loop area already and as Justin said, this area is only a few blocks outside the Loop itself. IMO if it sticks out, it’s only because the area needs more development.
I like it, except for the columns on the Halsted side, they seem to tall.