The very active developer Sterling Bay has proposed a 958-foot-tall, 2-million-sf office tower that would be connected to Union Station in Chicago’s West Loop, on real estate owned by Amtrak. The office tower would be one of the tallest in the city.
Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Sterling Bay is already in talks with large tenants for this tower, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Sterling Bay, though, has not yet been chosen as Union Station’s master developer.
Amtrak, Crain’s reports, has been trying to redevelop its 1.3-million-sf Union Station property for years. Last October, it announced plans to upgrade the existing building, and to seek developer partners to add 3 million sf of new structures over and around tracks and land it owns.
Sterling Bay has gained a reputation for redeveloping existing buildings, such as the conversion of the Fulton Market Cold Storage building, known as 1KFulton, to Google’s Midwest headquarters.
Its proposal for the addition to Union Station is one of several projects it has in the works, including two residential towers in Chicago, and a ground-up development for McDonald’s, which is moving its headquarters to the Fulton Market District from Oak Brook, Ill. That deal, says Crain’s, includes plans for a 200-room extended stay hotel just west of those headquarters.
The firm’s redevelopment of the recently acquired Coyne College campus has expanded to 1 million square feet of new office space—up from 400,000 square feet. And Sterling Bay is interested in purchasing the 18-acre Chicago Department of Fleet and Facility’s Management property, which the city has put up for sale.
The SOM-designed tower would, in all likelihood, replace a parking garage located south of Union Station’s new $41 million Transit Center, which opened on Sept. 11.
Curbed Chicago points out that the design of this tower looks a lot like an unbuilt 40-story proposal for 625 W. Monroe from SMDP Studio in 2013, which eventually evolved into a redesigned 75-story proposal the next year, but has yet to be constructed.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Webcor, Hunt Construction lead the way in mixed-use construction, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 30 Mixed-Use Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
NBBJ selected to design Russell Investments’ Seattle headquarters
NBBJ has been hired by Russell Investments as the architectural firm to design the interior space of its new global headquarters at 1301 2nd Avenue, a building also designed by NBBJ.
| Aug 11, 2010
Report: Fraud levels fall for construction industry, but companies still losing $6.4 million on average
The global construction, engineering and infrastructure industry saw a significant decline in fraud activity with companies losing an average of $6.4 million over the last three years, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report, released today at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. This new figure represents less than half of last year’s amount of $14.2 million.
| Aug 11, 2010
AAMA developing product-based green certification program for fenestration
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association is working on a product-based green certification program for residential and commercial fenestration, the organization announced today. AAMA will use the results of a recent green building survey to help shape the program. Among the survey's findings: 77% of respondents reported a green certification program for fenestration would benefit the product selection process for their company.
| Aug 11, 2010
City offices to up daylight, reduce water use
Breaking ground this month and scheduled for completion in November, the Palmetto Bay Village Hall in Miami-Dade County, Fla., will become the operating center for the mayor, village commissioners, government departments, the police department, and commission chambers. The two-story facility has been designed by JMWA Architects to win LEED Gold certification.
| Aug 11, 2010
Glass features keep Phoenix high-rise cool
A 26-story, 700,000-sf glass-clad tower has become downtown Phoenix's first office high-rise in eight years. One Central Park East, developed by Mesirow Financial, designed by SmithGroup, and built by Holder Construction Company, contains 495,000 sf of office space spanning 16 floors, plus a nine-level parking lot and ground-floor retail space.
| Aug 11, 2010
New HQ for automobile association stresses employee collaboration
AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah (AAA NCNU) has a new corporate headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif. The interior of the six-floor, 250,000-sf building features an open layout by architecture firm Gensler to encourage greater collaboration across the automobile association's departments. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the building uses wood from Forest Stewardship Council-certified...
| Aug 11, 2010
Project's mixed materials downplay massing
Philadelphia-based KlingStubbins provided design services for the 120,000-sf Carnegie Center, which is part of the 103-acre mixed-use Carnegie Center West development in West Windsor Township, N.J. The four-story building features horizontal brick bands, ribbons of glass, aluminum accents, and metal end panels and curtain wall at all four corners to break up the building's massing.
| Aug 11, 2010
Firehouse converted to hip hot property
Sound the alarm! A 9,000-sf former firehouse is being converted into a new multipurpose space for ZUMIX, a nonprofit music and arts organization that's partnering on the project with Landmark Structures of Woburn, Mass., and the East Boston Community Development Corporation. The $2 million renovation of the 1920s structure, known as Engine Company 40 Firehouse, includes a complete gut job to ma...
| Aug 11, 2010
High-tech tower targets LEED Platinum
Construction is slated to begin on the new $38 million AI Tech Center in Hartford, Conn., in spring 2010. The Building Team, which includes Suffolk Construction Co., CBT Architects, and Jones Lang LaSalle, planned the high-tech 13-story, 259,000-sf tower to meet LEED Platinum certification. Green features include photovoltaic power, a fuel cell power plant, abundant natural lighting, and a roof...
