This time, Block 37 could be a winner
By Gary Washburn and Hal Dardick - Tribune staff reporters
August 29, 2004
The long-awaited development planned for Block 37 will include a multilevel shopping center that will have an atrium and a feature sure to win the favor of Mayor Richard Daley--a rooftop garden, sources familiar with the project said Friday.
Plans for the high-profile development are expected to be submitted to the City Council Wednesday as Mills Corp., the Arlington, Va.-based developer, seeks city zoning approval.
"I can't confirm details of the plan simply because they are being finalized and they haven't been submitted to us," said Peter Scales, a spokesman for the city's Planning Department.
But concepts that were unveiled last year are not expected to change in the final proposal, he said.
A spokesman for Mills declined to comment.
Components are expected to include a five-level retail mall with about 400,000 square feet of space, a residential tower of about 20 stories, a hotel high-rise and an office building that would include a 200,000-square-foot media center with offices and studios for WBBM-Ch. 2. A street-level studio would overlook the Daley Center Plaza and the Picasso sculpture.
Below the complex, to be built on the block bounded by State, Dearborn, Randolph and Washington Streets, would be a Chicago Transit Authority "super station" featuring airline baggage check-in for travelers heading to O'Hare International and Midway Airports.
The atrium, a vertical open space, would provide a dramatic architectural feature to the shopping portion of the complex. The rooftop garden would lend a green element visible from surrounding Loop high-rises.
Daley is a major proponent of rooftop gardens for esthetic and environmental reasons. The mayor sought to set an example for other landlords when he installed a rooftop garden atop City Hall as part of a $1.5 million building-improvement project in 2000.
Daley, who over the years has rejected previous proposals for Block 37 as inadequate, said Saturday that he has yet to see the plans and will be cautious and thorough in considering them.
"We want to get the best out of the plans," Daley said. "I am not going to accept the status quo. That's why the process has taken long and will continue to take long. I'm not just going to sign on to something that I don't believe in."
The mayor said he did not know how much longer it would take to get a project going on the long-vacant parcel. That will depend, he said, on "how well the plans are presented," how "environmentally friendly" they are and "what type of stores are there."
Block 37 was first proposed for development in 1983. In 1989, the Daley administration cleared the block of its structures.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
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