CHICAGO | 375 East Wacker (Arquitectonica Tower) | 840 FT / 256 M | 76 FLOORS | PRO
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...i-business-utl

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/5...cacolorno4.jpg

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INSIDE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
Unique opening planned for Lakeshore East mixed-use building

BY SUSAN DIESENHOUSE
Published May 9, 2007


A $400-million, 76-story mixed-use tower is being planned for Lakeshore East by Magellan Development LLC.

The striking design by Miami-based Arquitectonica features a 20-story opening through the building's midsection. The tower, which will rise at 375 E. Wacker Dr., has two intersecting components programmed to house a five-star hotel with 224 suites, as many as 671 condominiums and six stories of underground parking.

The sale of condominiums, priced from $500,000 to about $3 million, will start in August. By mid-2008, construction will get under way. The first residents are expected to move in two years later, said Jim Loewenberg, co-chief executive of Magellan.

So far at Lakeshore East, seven buildings with about 2,500 residential units have been built or are in construction. In total, the developer might put up 16 major buildings with about 5,000 units, Loewenberg said.

That could look amazing or it could look horrible. But it will certainly be interesting. Can't wait to see the design. Magellan must know now after the huge success of Aqua that unique designs sell great.

There is a small rendering in Tribune. I don't think it will be in the range of 1000 feet but more like 900. No spire was attached. 20-floor opening is an interesting feature because it looks like a keyhole.

Hmmm... glad it's a reality; too bad it's not quite as wonderful as some of us had hoped it would be. Oh well, now it's time to consider the actual design - much more important than a few hundred feet.

Ok - it's a small rendering, but I like it! Although I'm a little disappointed with the height (to me it definitely looks to be under 900'), I'll take a design I like with less height than a lesser design that stretches to some arbitrary number in the sky. Thumbs up here...

i saw the trib article but couldn't find the rendering... i'm hoping it looks as good as i want it to, although i'm kinda bummed it's not going to crack the 1000-foot mark.

I scanned it as a .pdf, but I can't link the .pdf, so I put it on Yousendit.com. Can someone then find a way to post a shot of it?

http://download.yousendit.com/7D2368192E5F7794

http://runepixels.com/uimages9/lse.PNG

Thanks! It is striking and will be very cool indeed. However, I was kinda hoping that the "opening" was going to be the arched keyhole at ground level that served as an entrance of sorts into Lakeshore East.

Is that the Tides in the background to the right?

thanks for scanning hydrogen

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9...nicalseuc3.jpg


EDIT:

ah, you beat me to it kngkyle2 ;)

Can't tell too much from that picture. What's the story with the Trib being the sole source in the universe for renderings of this project?

would someone from emporis please create a building entry for this proposal so that i can get it added to the boom rundown? thanks in advance. :)

Yes. So that would mean this is the southern face of this building.

^ nah, i'm pretty sure we're looking at the northern face. if we were looking at the southern face, then that would mean that the arquitectonica building is south of the tides, which is impossible, as the park is south of the tides. the arquitectonica tower will be north of the tides along the river.

Yeah. . . it looks like the north face. . . I wonder what the price range is going to be for units here. . . this project is far out enough that I'd put money down on a unit just to flip it. . .

according to the initial article..........

Thanks. . . I guess I'll shut up and get back to work now ;)

Added bu>299071 to Emporis database. . . we'll probably need to clean up the LSE information related to the buildings planned along East Wacker Drive that are being replaced by this super-structure. . .

Chicago strikes again!! I really like the massing of this tower. It's very Chicago - tall, broad-shouldered, and conservative yet forward looking. Very classy. I think the colors and materials they use on the facade will make or break it.

Here's another scan that hopefully shows a little more detail...



http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9343/lse1157xq3.png

Yes, detailed renderings will give a better idea. The crown/top could have some great form and lighting effects.

A few things jump out:

1) complete symmetry accross the vertical axis.
2) The decreasing distance between horizontal bands in the middle-section as they rise from ground level

Man Chicago people, you have no idea how lucky you are. NY has not seen a 76 story (actual stories) building in nearly 4 decades now....and you have several taller ones u/c.

I'm sure the facade of this one is going to be top notch, and this will be yet another knockout. Incredible!

I dont wanna form any deep opinions on it just yet. I do think its a very solid design though. A conservative design which surprises me abit. The exterior materials, I think, will determine how I truly feel about the tower. Its seems to have great texture which is huge plus for me. Do any of the guys that saw renderings previously know what the primary exterior material is? That is, if there were those thats seen renderings before.

Im usually a fan of arquitectonica but "eww" but it will come down to the details, with high class materials, this could be a pleasant surprise, any kind of cheap facade work or windows and this tower will blow. and it hurts me to say that about a 76 floor tower.

Current feeling: I still think I could have designed a better building for that site.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the site that aligns with Field Blvd. right? If so, just as i suspected, there is no arch element that would have been an amazing public space.

I'm afraid so. On the other hand, I appreciate that Magellan has taken into consideration the views from the other high rises. One of the advantages of a planned community.

Yep, very bummed about that. It could have been one of the most dramatic spots in the whole city if handled correctly.

Sketchy renders look decent, though. I will not be at all disappointed to see this one rise! I am really pleased that it's not that Times Square rubbish they produced.

As everyone has said, detailing and materials will make or break it.

I noticed this too which makes me think its further to the east or else the street runs benneath to lower Wacker only??? An acrh stradling Field Blvd would have been interesting. Instead we have a big hole in the top half! Maybe Field Blvd travelers are expected to fly through! :haha:

Anyway, the design is vaguely similar to a sketch I did as in South Shore HS Art Major in 1969 Except in my concept the opening was on the bottom half.

Yeah...i thought the arched building was gonna be on the lower levels were people can actually walk underneath...is this that building?

Well I suppose I can start spilling the beans on this one now the that the can has been opened. The materials will be mostly glass with the vertical bands below the hole being limestone. Field Blvd will pass under the structure from the south, and the facade above the street will have LED lights which would cahnge colors with the seasons. That is what was orginally planned, I hope those elements are still part of the program.

This building could be either really nice or really hideous depending on the quality of the glass.

^^ shawn, now that the cat is officially out of the bag, could you maybe let us know what you've heard regarding the actual height of this tower? it's clearly not a 1,000 footer, and the rendering makes it look like it won't even clear 900'. any info you feel comfortable divulging would be appreciated, but if you can't, i totally understand.

Nice. Although Im afraid that the limestone wont end up on the final product. Im crossing my fingers. And some crown lighting would be nice as well. The top would be perfect for it.

The design is pretty cool but the details could make it great. If the details are crappy, it should still look cool from a distance and it's certainly going to add some punch to the skyline.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7...eastnewqt9.jpg

So they rotated the wider aspect of the buidling such that if faces North-South instead of the old plan that had the width facing East-West? It looks like they are taking a lot of primo riverfront real estate with this change.

I'm torn by the design. It will definitely be interesting and quite unique, but for some reason this is not was I was really expecting. I'll have to let this percolate for a while before forming much of an opinion. I am relieved that it's not some leaning, asymetric thing with a bright red stripe up the middle though!

This thing could actually be very nice, but I don't see much of a skyline impact happening, which disappoints me a bit. The height looks like in the 750-850 range tops. From a lot of angles, people won't get any sort of view of this tower, which is unfortunate. Plus, isn't there a really tall one possibly in the works for LSE along LSD and wacker? Plus aqua 2?

Chicago Shawn, you wouldn't happen to have a nice color rendering would you?

Last time I visited the sales center, the people there told me this one would be taller than Aqua. The wouldn't give much more detail than that.

Well look at it this way. If we judged the height of the Chicago Spire based on the renders we would be way way off. So I'd say just wait for the actual information before speculating what it will be.

In terms of construction, with the large center opening, would this need to be a steel structure or would concrete be feasible?

It could be concrete with 2 cores.

so will there be an archway on the bottom of the building so that cars go underneath or not?

Can anyone say "super MoMo?"

^^ I quite like it. It's reminiscent of one of the firm's earliest works, a condo building in Miami that has a smaller opening in the middle with a pool area in the void. I think it definitely fits the "Chicago archetype" for skyscrapers in this City: simple, elegant and stoic, yet the void adds something new and provides the archetype something that really hasn't been part of the Chicago vernacular before. The $64,000 question will be the finishes which in my opinion will make or break the overall design; If nicer, more expensive finishes are selected, including the glazing system then I doubt there is anything to worry about, however if Lowenberg decides to start creating unncessary value-engineered issues to bring the constr. cost down, then there will be a problem.

That is a good looking building. I'd like to have a condo up near the top on the inside of the hole.

Remember who the the developer is, King Value-Engineering

Looks to be over 900 feet to me. I really like it, and I'm not an Arquitechtonica fan in general. The massing (other than the window) reminds me of the great old deco buildings on S. LaSalle.

hmmmm....can't wait to see color renderings.

also, according to the article, this will be the 8th building and will bring the total amount of units under construction or built to about 3,100. that leaves up to 1,900 more units to be built for the rest of the develoment. Depending on how many commercial structures they build, the next round of residential buildings may not be so tall.

Looks like the 50s are back.