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
| Jun 5, 2013
USGBC: Free LEED certification for projects in new markets
In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council is offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root.
| Jun 4, 2013
SOM research project examines viability of timber-framed skyscraper
In a report released today, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill discussed the results of the Timber Tower Research Project: an examination of whether a viable 400-ft, 42-story building could be created with timber framing. The structural type could reduce the carbon footprint of tall buildings by up to 75%.
| Jun 3, 2013
Construction spending inches upward in April
The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during April 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $860.8 billion, 0.4 percent above the revised March estimate of $857.7 billion.
| Jun 3, 2013
Trifecta of awards recognize Vision/Rubenstein campus, Bayer Healthcare HQ
When Vision Equities, LLC and Rubenstein Partners purchased the 200-acre former Alcatel-Lucent campus in Whippany a little more than two years ago, the partnership recognized the property’s potential to serve as a benchmark infill revitalization for the State of New Jersey.
| May 31, 2013
Nation's first retrofitted zero-energy building opens in California
The new training facility for IBEW/NECA is the first commercial building retrofit designed to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s requirements for a net-zero energy building.
| May 29, 2013
Realtors report positive trends in commercial real estate market
Realtors who practice commercial real estate have reported an increase in annual gross income for the third year in a row, signaling the market is on the road to recovery.
| May 24, 2013
First look: Revised plan for Amazon's Seattle HQ and 'biodome'
NBBJ has released renderings of a revised plan for Amazon's new three-block headquarters in Seattle. The proposal would replace a previously approved six-story office building with a three-unit "biodome."
| May 20, 2013
Jones Lang LaSalle: All U.S. real estate sectors to post gains in 2013—even retail
With healthier job growth numbers and construction volumes at near-historic lows, real estate experts at Jones Lang LaSalle see a rosy year for U.S. commercial construction.
| May 3, 2013
'LEED for all GSA buildings,' says GSA Green Building Advisory Committee
The Green Building Advisory Committee established by the General Services Administration, officially recommended to GSA that the LEED green building certification system be used for all GSA buildings as the best measure of building efficiency.
| May 2, 2013
A snapshot of the world's amazing construction feats (in one flashy infographic)
From the Great Pyramids of Giza to the U.S. Interstate Highway System, this infographic outlines interesting facts about some of the world's most notable construction projects.
