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
Building Owners | May 6, 2015
Hackathons and RFCs: Why one developer killed the RFP
In lieu of an RFP process, Skanska Commercial Development hosted a three-week "hackathon" to find an architect for its 2&U tower in Seattle.
Office Buildings | May 6, 2015
Is the office lobby the workplace of the future?
Perkins+Will's Tony Layne discusses three key trends driving the shift to workplaces that offer greater flexibility and choice for employees.
Mixed-Use | May 5, 2015
Miami ‘innovation district’ will have 6.5 million sf of dense, walkable space
Designing a neighborhood from the ground-up, developers aim to create a dense, walkable district that fulfills what is lacking from Miami’s current auto-dependent layout.
Codes and Standards | May 1, 2015
New energy efficiency program, Tenant Star, gets OK from Congress
The voluntary program for commercial and government buildings is modeled after Energy Star.
High-rise Construction | Apr 30, 2015
World Trade Center developer looks to Bjarke Ingels for new tower design
Norman Foster’s design for 2 World Trade Center may be ousted, as developers are currently negotiating with Danish firm BIG to redesign the original scheme.
Office Buildings | Apr 30, 2015
U.S. office construction is approaching historic levels again
An estimated 108 million sf of office space were under construction in the U.S. at the end of the first quarter, a 17% gain over the same period a year ago, according to CoStar.
Wood | Apr 26, 2015
Building wood towers: How high is up for timber structures?
The recent push for larger and taller wood structures may seem like an architectural fad. But Building Teams around the world are starting to use more large-scale structural wood systems.
Green | Apr 22, 2015
GSA's Federal Center South Building honored with AIA Top Ten Plus Award for 'verified' sustainable performance
The annual award recognizes green building projects that have quantifiable metrics demonstrating the performance and positive impact of the sustainable design.
Office Buildings | Apr 21, 2015
Stop the endless debate over open vs. closed work environments
Rather than be confused by the constant stream of opinions, leadership teams contemplating workplace investments should start with powerful employee engagement strategies that drive results.
Office Buildings | Apr 21, 2015
How to create an 'emotionally intelligent' workplace
Emotional intelligence is the leading predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence.