Mapping the 49 High-rises Under Construction in Chicago
- Posted: February 18, 2019
- Community Building
Dozens of new towers are reshaping the city’s famous skyline
As summer draws to a close, Chicago’s construction season remains in full swing with dozens of tower cranes dotting the skyline. Downtown continues to be an ever-thickening forest of high-rises while outlying neighborhoods as far north as Edgewater and south as Hyde Park are seeing their own tall projects take root.
Since our last update in the spring, a number of developments were completed and dropped off our current construction list. Notable examples include 1407 on Michigan, 465 North Park, CNA Center, No. 9 Walton, Solstice on the Park, Eleven40, Hilton Garden Inn McCormick Center, Wicker Park Connection II, and Marlowe. The addition of twelve newly started high-rise projects, however, sees the count remain virtual unchanged at 49 active job sites—down just one from the prior list’s 50.
Looking at the map points, it’s clear that rental apartments continues to be the primary driving force behind the Windy City’s vertical building boom, but office towers, hotels, condominiums, and educational projects are also fairly well represented.
Here are the under-construction high-rise developments currently reshaping Chicago’s famous skyline.
Note: Points are roughly arranged from the tallest to shortest.
1. Vista Tower
363 E Upper Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60601
The 1,186-foot tall luxury hotel and condo tower will be hard to miss when it eventually climbs its way to the title of Chicago’s third tallest building. Designed by starchitect Jeanne Gang, the riverfront project will deliver 210 luxury hotel rooms and 406 private condominiums priced between $1 million and $18 million. Vista Tower hit its half-way mark in June and is expected to open in 2020.
Magellan Development
2. NEMA Chicago
113 E Roosevelt Rd
Chicago, IL 60605
Penned by architect Rafael Viñoly, NEMA (formerly known as One Grant Park) is quickly rising at the south end of Chicago’s famous Grant Park. Developed by Crescent Heights, the 76-story, 893-foot tower is poised to become Chicago’s tallest skyscraper south of the Willis Tower. It will offer 800 rental apartments when it opens in 2019.
Rafael Viñoly Architects
3. One Bennett Park
451 E Grand Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
This slender Art Deco-inspired high-rise from New York’s Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Related Midwest will feature a mix of luxurious apartments and for-sale condominiums. A 1.7 acre park at the base of the tower is also getting a major makeover by noted landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.
Robert A.M. Stern Architects
4. 110 N. Wacker
110 N Upper Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60606
Replacing the Loop’s low-rise General Growth Building, the glassy officer tower at 110 N. Wacker Drive comes from Texas-based Howard Hughes Corporate and Chicago’s Riverside Investment & Development and the architects at Goettsch Partners. The Bank of American-anchored project includes a new pocket park and public riverwalk and is expected to be completed in late 2020 or early 2021.
Goettsch Partners
5. Wolf Point East
343 W Wolf Point Plaza
Chicago, IL 60654
Situated at the confluence of the Chicago River’s three branches, the 660 feet, 60-story Wolf Point East project is the second of three skyscrapers making up the Wolf Point development. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli with Chicago’s Pappageorge Haymes serving as local architect of record, the 198-unit eastern tower comes from developer Hines Interests and long-time property owner the Kennedy family.
Pelli Clarke Pelli
6. Essex on the Park
808 S Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60605
Located just west of Grant Park, this 56-story South Loop apartment tower recently reached its 600-foot final height. When completed in 2019, Essex on the Park will boast 479 high-end rental units and an impressive high-ceiling indoor pool and winter garden. Developer Oxford Capital is also renovating the existing Essex Inn hotel next door and will incorporate the midcentury modern building into the new HPA-designed high-rise.
HPA
7. 727 W. Madison
727 W Madison St
Chicago, IL 60661
Stretching 472 feet to the top of its highest residential floor and 495 to its architectural pinnacle, 727 W. Madison will hold the title of Chicago’s tallest building west of the Kennedy Expressway when it is completed in late 2018. Replacing a hotel parking lot, the glassy oval-shaped tower will feature 492 rental apartment units, 9,500 square feet of ground floor retail, and a 375-stall garage. The project is a joint venture between Fifield Companies and F&F Realty with design work headed by FitzGerald Associates Architects.
FitzGerald Associates Architects
8. The Paragon
1326 S Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60605
This glassy 47-story high-rise rising at the site of a former parking parking lot at 1326 S. Michigan Avenue is well above ground. Designed by SCB, “The Paragon” will contain 500 rental units, 190 parking spaces, and retail space. The South Loop project is a joint venture between Chicago-based Murphy Development Group and California’s CIM Group and expects to open in the spring of 2019.
SCB
9. Old Town Park Phase 2
202 W Hill St
Chicago, IL 60610
The second of three high-rise planned for the redevelopment of Chicago’s 1970s-era Atrium Village apartment complex into Old Town Park, this 39-story project slated for the corner of Wells and Hill is now rising above ground. The Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture-designed tower will eventually grow up to contain 428 residential units, a parking garage, and new commercials space.
HPA
10. 1101 S. Wabash
1101 S Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60605
This 30-story South Loop hotel development will contain as many as 342 guest rooms shared between a Hilton Homewood Suites and a Hilton Garden Inn. Designed by Lothan Van Hook DeStefano and Pappageorge Haymes, 1101 S. Wabash will also feature 3,500 square feet of retail and a 57-car parking garage.
Lothan Van Hook DeStefano
11. The Cooper at Southbank
720 S Wells St
Chicago, IL 60699
The first of several high-rises planned for the South Loop’s recently subdivided 14-acre Riverline/Southbank project, The Cooper will contain 452 rental units including 26 town-house-style apartments. The 29-story waterfront building from architect Perkins+Will broke ground in late 2016 and will soon welcome its first residents.
Perkins + Will
12. Eight Eleven Uptown
824 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60613
Replacing Chicago’s demolished Cuneo Hospital, the 27-story lakefront development known as Eight Eleven Uptown is becoming hard to ignore. Designed by HPA and developed by JDL, the glassy tower will include 373 rental units plus nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space.
HPA
13. 1600 E. 53rd Street
1600 E 53rd St
Chicago, IL 60615
After scoring a building permit in March, this 26-story Hyde Park apartment tower is now officially underway. The high-rise replaces a parking lot at the corner of 53rd Street and Cornell Avenue with 246 rental units, roughly 10,000 square feet of retail space, and a parking garage containing up to 173 spaces. The 295-foot-tall project comes from MAC Properties and architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz.
SCB
14. Toyoko Inn Hotel
320 S Clinton St
Chicago, IL 60661
First proposed back in 2011, the 615-room Toyoko Inn Hotel surprisingly broke ground this spring after years of silence. The 24-story building recently completed foundation work at 320 S. Clinton Street near Union Station. It replaces a surface parking lot.
Hotel Architect DPC
15. The Mill
734 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60642
This upcoming glass and brick apartment tower at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Carpenter Street in River West will rise 23 stories. Branded as “The Mill” in renderings, the high-rise development comes from developer Tandem Partners and architect Antunovich Associates.
Antunovich Associates
16. 145 S. Wells
145 S Wells St
Chicago, IL 60603
The architect-developer team of Moceri + Roszak is hard at work on this 20-story office tower at 145 S. Wells Street in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. The amenity rich project features an outdoor terrace with fire pits and a wading pool as well as an indoor lounge sporting table tennis, billiards, and a golf simulator. It replaces an unremarkable downtown parking garage.
Thomas Roszak Architecture
17. Lincoln Common ‘A1’
2345 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
The controversial Lincoln Common development is currently underway at the former site of Lincoln Park’s Children’s Memorial Hospital at the intersection of Fullerton, Halsted, and Lincoln. Co-developed by McCaffery and Hines Interests and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in collaboration with Antunovich Associates, the $350 million project includes a pair of glassy apartment towers climbing 20-stories. The northern tower (dubbed A1) is located at 2345 N Lincoln Ave.
Antunovich Associates/SOM
18. Lincoln Common ‘A2’
2335 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
Also part of the Lincoln Common project, A1’s sibling building (A2) is under construction at 2335 N. Lincoln. Combined, the 20-story twins will deliver over 500 new rental apartments to Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Antunovich Associates/SOM
19. Gr333N
333 N Green St
Chicago, IL 60607
This 19-story, 280-foot-tall office tower at 333 N. Green Street replaces the parking lot across from Fulton Market’s shuttered Coyne College building. The first of three office towers developer Sterling Bay plans for the 300 block of N. Green Street, ‘Gr333n’ will be anchored by WPP with the London-based advertising firm hopes to move in by early 2020. The Gensler-designed building also sports ground floor retail and a parking structure concealed behind a “kinetic wall” screen that will gently undulate in the wind.
Gensler
20. Milieu
855 W Adams St
Chicago, IL 60607
Slated for the southeast corner of Adams and Peoria, this glassy 19-story apartment development broke ground earlier this summer. Overlooking Mary Bartelme Park, the 275-unit project is developed by Crayton Advisors and White Oak Realty Partners and designed by FitzGerald Associates Architects. Milieu is expected to open in the summer of 2019.
FitzGerald Associates Architects
21. Renelle on the River
403 N Wabash Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
Situated above a parking garage just north of Trump Tower, River North’s Renelle on the River project was able to forgo foundation work and quickly rise to its 18-story final height. The 50-unit luxury condo building comes from Belgravia Group and bKL Architecture.
bKL Architecture
22. 450 W. Belmont
450 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
Headed to East Lakeview neighborhood, this 18-story rental tower replaces a pair of old low-rise buildings near Belmont Harbor. The glassy structure from developer CA Residential and Chicago-based architecture firm Antunovich Associates boasts 80 rental units and 48 parking spaces.
Antunovich Associates
23. NU Biomedical Research Center
333 E Superior St
Chicago, IL 60611
Northwestern University’s new biomedical research building, officially known as the Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, is initially set to rise to a height of 14 floors. A much taller further vertical expansion will take place as a part of a later phase. The Perkins+Will designed facility replaces Streeterville’s demolished Prentice Women’s Hospital by architect Bertrand Goldberg.
Perkins + Will
24. Aloft Hotel Mag Mile
327 E Ontario St
Chicago, IL 60611
Replacing Chicago’s former Museum of Contemporary Art building at 237 E. Ontario, this Streeterville hotel from Tishman Realty Corporation is headed for the home stretch. Originally slated to rise 24 stories, the project was cut down to 18 floors. It will contain 336 guest rooms and no on-site parking.
Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
25. Home2Suites by Hilton
110 W Huron St
Chicago, IL 60654
River North’s new Home2Suites by Hilton at 110 W. Huron was designed by NORR and developed by Akara Partners. The 17-story high-rise will deliver 185 guest rooms, ground floor retail space, and a rooftop restaurant. It contains zero on-site parking.
NORR
26. Hyatt House Hotel
105 N May St
Chicago, IL 60607
Expected to serve as extended-stay housing for attendees of McDonald’s “Hamburger University” training program at the fast food company’s nearby new corporate HQ, this 16-story, 191-room hotel has grown like weed in Chicago’s West Loop. The development was designed by Eckenhoff Saunders Architects and is scheduled to open in the summer of 2019.
Eckenhoff Saunders Architects
27. U of C Woodlawn Residential Commons
6025 S Woodlawn Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
The University of Chicago is growing its presence in Woodlawn with this new 1,300-bed residence hall deigned by Elkus Manfredi Architects. When complete in 2020, the complex will sport three seven-story towers and one 16-story tower at a shared podium at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and 61st Street.
Elkus Manfredi Architects
28. Wabash and 14th
59 E 14th St
Chicago, IL 60605
After breaking ground earlier this year without a zoning change and with little fanfare, this 15-story apartment project at the corner of Wabash Avenue and 14th Street is making steady progress. The glassy development comes from CMK Companies and architect Pappageorge Haymes Partners. It is being built along side a neighboring 10-story building. Together, the duo will add 261 rental units to the South Loop.
Pappageorge Haymes Partners
29. Union West
935 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607
At 935 W. Washington Boulevard, developer ZOM Living is busy on a pair of connected 15-story towers known as Union West. Designed by bKL Architecture, the West Loop project’s 358 rental units and roughly 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail space would be served by a 195-stall parking garage.
bKL Architecture
30. 210 N. Carpenter
210 N Carpenter St
Chicago, IL 60607
Rising at the northwest corner of Lake and Carpenter in Chicago’s Fulton Market District, this twelve-story office building has been marketed by developer Sterling Bay as a “vendor village” for firms following McDonald’s corporate HQ to the West Loop. Designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz, 210 N. Carpenter will feature ground floor retail, rooftop amenities for office workers, and on-site parking for 41 cars and 80 bikes.
SCB
31. Alta Grand Central
599 S Wells St
Chicago, IL 60607
Located just north of The Cooper at Southbank, the twin 14-story apartment towers known as Alta Grand Central recently dug-in at the southwest corner of Wells and Harrison streets in the South Loop. The glassy buildings from Pappageorge Haymes Partners and developers D2 and Wood Partners will deliver a combined 346 rental units and new ground-floor retail space.
Pappageorge Haymes Partners
32. 180 N. Ada
180 N Ada St
Chicago, IL 60607
This modern glass and metal apartment building at the corner of Ada and Lake streets has risen quickly at the western edge of Chicago Fulton Market District. The 14-story, 263-unit project comes from developer the Marquette Companies and local architecture firm Brininstool + Lynch.
Brininstool + Lynch
33. 56 Huron
56 W Huron St
Chicago, IL 60654
Though rising 13 stories above River North, the boutique condo development at 56 W. Huron Street will feature just 11 residences. The narrow glass and metal-clad building from Chicago-based Kiferbaum Development and Studio Dwell Architects broke ground in late 2017 and will welcome residents soon.
Studio Dwell Architects
34. The Van Buren
808 W Van Buren St
Chicago, IL 60661
This twelve-story transit-oriented apartment project at 808 W. Van Buren comes from Loukas Development and bKL Architecture. Replacing a vacant lot at the northwest corner of Halsted and Van Buren in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood, the recently topp-off structure will contain 148 apartment units, ground floor retail space, a rooftop pool, and 65 parking stalls across its first and second levels.
bKL Architecture
35. Hoxton Hotel
200 N Green St
Chicago, IL 60607
Currently under construction at the corner of Lake and Green, the twelve-story Hoxton Hotel will contain 175 guest rooms, two levels of office space, indoor valet parking, ground-floor retail, a rooftop terrace, and a yet-to-be-named eatery and bar from Chicago’s Boka Restaurant Group. London-based Hoxton Hotel’s new Chicago digs come from developer Shapack Partners and was designed by Chicago-based GREC Architects.
Morris Adjmi Architects
36. Sheridan and Wilson
4555 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago, IL 60640
The glassy transit-oriented development in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood will bring 149 rental units, ground floor retail space, and parking for a just 29 vehicles to the intersection of Wilson Avenue and Sheridan Road. The twelve-story building comes from developer CRG and architect BatesForum.
BatesForum
37. No. 508
508 W Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60614
Strandling the border between Lincoln Park and Lakeview, this 12-story development from Broder Properties will deliver 53 rental units, 53 parking spaces, and new retail. Designed by Pappageorge Haymes Partners, No. 508 is on track is expected to open later this summer.
Pappageorge Haymes Partners
38. GEMS Academy Phase 2
355 E Upper Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL 60601
Neatly wedged between Vista Tower and The Coast condo high-rise, the upper and middle school for GEMS Word Academy is well on its way. Though it rises only eight stories above upper Wacker Drive, the bKL-designed school building still makes our list for its overall height of 12 floors from dirt to roof.
bKL Architecture
39. Nobu Hotel
854 W Randolph St
Chicago, IL 60607
Though one of the West Loop’s most anticipated developments, the eleven-story Nobu Hotel has faced a number of delays including a work stoppage issue. With new developers on board, the boutique hotel and restaurant recently topped off. Designed by Modif Architecture with Studio K handling the interiors, Nobu Chicago will boast 119 guest rooms, an indoor pool, and a rooftop lounge.
Modif Architecture
40. Three Sixty West
360 W Erie St
Chicago, IL 60654
This 11-story River North condo project at 360 W. Erie broke ground last fall. Developed by Belgravia Group and designed by GREC, ‘Three Sixty West’ will contain 38 three-bedroom residences and 52 parking spaces on the ground floor and below grade.
GREC
41. UIC Harrison Hall
Rising near the corner of Harrison and Morgan, the University of Illinois at Chicago’s new Harrison Hall is a 10-story mixed-use building from the architects at Solomon Cordwell Buenz. The glassy project will contain housing for 550 students and amenity space in addition to large lecture halls and classrooms. It will open in fall of 2019
SCB
42. 900 West Washington
900 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607
Officially know as simply ‘900 West,’ this ten-story boutique condo development is transforming the northwest corner of Washington and Peoria. Developed by Taris Real Estate and designed by architecture firm Northworks, the neo-industrial-looking project will contain 22 high-end residences accessible via private elevator and biometric retinal scan. It is set to open mid-September.
Northworks
43. Hayden West Loop
1111 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607
Hayden West Loop is the first of two nine-story condo projects from Sulo Development planned near Oprah’s former Harpo Studios television production campus. Designed by Booth Hansen, the building rising at 1111 W. Washington Boulevard will deliver 28 large, multi-bedroom condominiums and two parking spots per unit. Work has yet to start on its twin slated for nearby 19 N. May Street.
Booth Hansen
44. Illume
111 S Peoria St
Chicago, IL 60607
Despite a legal challenge from its immediate neighbors, the project at 111 S. Peoria Street is underway and topped off in Chicago’s West Loop. The project comes from LG Development and Pappageorge Haymes Partners. It was first pitched as 205 rental apartments before changing its programming to 79 high-end condo units. The building is close to welcoming its first residents.
Pappageorge Haymes Partners
45. Addison & Clark
1025 W Addison St
Chicago, IL 60613
Lakeview’s dense Addison & Clark mixed-use development occupies 2.3 acres of prime real estate just south of Chicago’s famous Wrigley Field. Designed by SCB, the $140 million complex features 148 rental apartments, parking for 405 cars, and 150,000 square feet of retail including a bowling alley and multiplex cinema. It will welcome its first renters in September.
SCB
46. The Ardus
676 N LaSalle Dr
Chicago, IL 60654
Part adaptive reuse, part new construction, this project from Cedar Street Cos. will deliver another 149 rental units to River North. The development adds two stories to the old 1920’s commercial building at 676 N. LaSalle that once belonged to the Bogardus steam gauge company. The Ardus project also tacks on a glassy steel-frame addition designed by Booth Hansen.
Booth Hansen
47. 61 E. Banks
61 E Banks St
Chicago, IL 60610
Filling the city’s only undeveloped lakefront parcel between Diversey Avenue and the site of the defunct Chicago Spire project, the 115-foot-tall Gold Coast project at 61 E. Banks broke ground in early 2018. It comes from developer Draper & Kramer and architect Booth Hansen and will deliver 58 large, high-end rental units topped by a lake-facing outdoor terrace.
Booth Hansen
48. Twelve01West
1201 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607
Rising 101 feet, this glassy Fulton Market office building just barely made our list. Developed by McCaffery Interests and designed by Antunovich Associates, the project includes 135,000 square feet of office, 12,000 square feet of retail, space and a 45-car parking garage. Tenant amenities include an indoor lounge, wellness center, bike room, and two outdoor terraces.
Antunovich Associates
49. Hyatt Place
1551 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
A construction crane just west of the Kennedy Expressway is currently at work on the 99-room Hyatt Place hotel at the southeast corner of North and Ashland avenues. Replacing a Wicker Park gas station, the project was blocked by 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins for aesthetic reasons. A revised design from Legat Architects is expected to be unveiled soon. The hotel is slated to open in the fall of 2019.
Vari Architects