Two parcels of land along Wacker Drive, one occupied by a small park and plaza and another by a parking lot, could soon be the site of twin 48-story office towers from architect Kohn Pederson Fox and developer Murphy Development Group.
Containing 1.2 million sf of office space each, the two land parcels, 301 S. Wacker and 321 S. Wacker, are located just south of the Willis Tower, Curbed Chicago reports. According to Crain’s, Murphy Development Group expects the project to cost more than $800 million. Closing on the two parcels of land with is expected to occur before the end of the year, but specific terms of the deal between Murphy Development Group and InSite Real Estate are not known.
Kohn Pederson Fox has already completed design work on the project and zoning is already in place. Once a deal is signed, construction is expected to take less than two years. However, neither tower is expected to begin construction until tenants are secured.
Related Stories
| Sep 14, 2011
Thornton Tomasetti’s Poon named to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’s Board of Trustees
During his 30-plus years of experience, Poon has been responsible for the design and construction of super high-rise structures, mixed-used buildings, hotels, airports, arenas and residential buildings worldwide.
| Sep 6, 2011
Construction on Beijing's tallest building starts next week
The 108 floor mixed-use skyscraper consists of offices, apartments, hotels and shopping malls on the lower floors.
| May 25, 2011
World’s tallest building now available in smaller size
Emaar Properties teamed up with LEGO to create a miniature version of the Burj Khalifa as part of the LEGO Architecture series. Currently, the LEGO Burj Khalifa is available only in Dubai, but come June 1, 2011, it will be available worldwide.
| May 17, 2011
Should Washington, D.C., allow taller buildings?
Suggestions are being made that Washington revise its restrictions on building heights. Architect Roger Lewis, who raised the topic in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, argues for a modest relaxation of the height limits, and thinks that concerns about ruining the city’s aesthetics are unfounded.
| Apr 19, 2011
15 mind-blowing skyscrapers
Our friends at Inhabitat have rounded up 15 incredible buildings—from underground cities to vertical farms to bio-fuel power plants and skyscrapers.
| Mar 22, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg unveils plans for New York City’s largest new affordable housing complex since the ’70s
Plans for Hunter’s Point South, the largest new affordable housing complex to be built in New York City since the 1970s, include new residences for 5,000 families, with more than 900 in this first phase. A development team consisting of Phipps Houses, Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction has been selected to build the residential portion of the first phase of the Queens waterfront complex, which includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.
| Mar 11, 2011
Chicago office building will serve tenants and historic church
The Alter Group is partnering with White Oak Realty Partners to develop a 490,000-sf high-performance office building in Chicago’s West Loop. The tower will be located on land owned by Old St. Patrick’s Church (a neighborhood landmark that survived the Chicago Fire of 1871) that’s currently being used as a parking lot.
| Mar 9, 2011
Winners of the 2011 eVolo Skyscraper Competition
Winners of the eVolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition include a high-rise recycling center in New Delhi, India, a dome-like horizontal skyscraper in France that harvests solar energy and collects rainwater, and the Hoover Dam reimagined as an inhabitable skyscraper.
| Mar 2, 2011
How skyscrapers can save the city
Besides making cities more affordable and architecturally interesting, tall buildings are greener than sprawl, and they foster social capital and creativity. Yet some urban planners and preservationists seem to have a misplaced fear of heights that yields damaging restrictions on how tall a building can be. From New York to Paris to Mumbai, there’s a powerful case for building up, not out.
| Feb 11, 2011
Chicago high-rise mixes condos with classrooms for Art Institute students
The Legacy at Millennium Park is a 72-story, mixed-use complex that rises high above Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The glass tower, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is mostly residential, but also includes 41,000 sf of classroom space for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and another 7,400 sf of retail space. The building’s 355 one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominiums range from 875 sf to 9,300 sf, and there are seven levels of parking. Sky patios on the 15th, 42nd, and 60th floors give owners outdoor access and views of Lake Michigan.
