Fellows,
I'm happy to let you know that I attended the "Grant Park Advisory Council meeting" this evening, and I have some really good and exciting news.
There were people representing the city of Chicago, The Park District, the Central Station Development and the Enterprise Company. The main speaker was the man in charge of the Chicago Park District, and before he introduced the developers of Central Station...he talked for a few minutes about the expansion of the beautification in Grant Park, south of Millenium. Speaking of which, he talked about the success that Millenium Park has been for Chicago, and then he went on to explain, how they're adding a
skate board park & a doggie park , towards Roosevelt Ave. He also explained how the city and the developers are trying to bring retail and restaurants to the area, to make it a vibrant addition to the city.
The best news I heard coming from the Park District, is that they're finalizing a project on the drawing board, to cover the rail road tracks that are still exposed, south of Congress Parkway. I used to live in 1130 S. Michigan last year on the 19th floor, and although I had a wonderful view of the lake, Grant Park and the Field Museum... I was horrified to see those ugly tracks below my building.
Ok, now lets talk about the issue at hand. The second part of the meeting was a presentation given by the developers of Central Station, in which they announced the construction of One Museum Park. This will be the first one of 4 high-rises on the south wall of the park.
It'll be located in the corner of Roosevelt and Columbus and It will be the tallest of the 4 structures with 65 storeys, and with a height of 720ft. It'll be mainly steel and glass, but they're still deciding what color the glass will be. The building will be resting on a podium shared by another 520ft tall building. Unlike many other residential buildings built in Chicago in the last few years. This podium wont be for parking, it'll be used for condominium space.
They also mentioned that they're still working on the designs of the other 3 buildings, and they already have their heights. 520', 520' and 620'. I got some of this information on my own after the meeting was over and I got to talk to some of the architects of PAPPAGEORGE/HAYMES Ltd. which is the firm who designed the first building.
The second tallest building will be designed by another firm, since they want all 4 buildings to be different, and it'll be located in the opposite corner, on Michigan and Roosevelt. This high-rise will have retail, condos and a hotel. However they don't have any retail commitments yet.
Sales for the One Museum Park will start next month and I got a business card from one of the developers and he agreed to keep me updated in the development of the project.
I just want to add that Mayor Daley has been a huge supporter of this project from the very start, and everything points in the right direction so far. I know 65 storeys is not as good as 75, but it is certainly higher than anything we expected...plus I think the design is very nice.
Here are some pics. Enjoy!
