Let's Take a Look at Roosevelt University's New Tower in the Loop

My, isn't that svelte? We gave Roosevelt's new 32-story vertical campus a mention in last week's roundup of high-rises that are currently under construction in Chicago, but let's take a minute to ogle some renderings. For the past year or so, we've been seeing ads in bus shelters around the South Loop with the cute slogan, "Forward thinking with a vertical bent." Then, this winter, a big construction crane emerged at 425 S. Wabash, and the building has been steadily growing in recent weeks. The VOA-designed, 469-foot-tall building has a skinny profile facing Wabash with a couple of big hour-glass curves, while the southern elevation is broad and glassy. But, as Lynn Becker noted on his blog earlier this week, the northern elevation will have a roughly 15-story-tall blank concrete wall (see the slides with the red arrows above). That blank wall will of course be hidden if another tall tower is built on the adjacent lot. "Let's hope that the economy revs up fast enough so that we won't have to be staring at that towering mass of bare concrete for the next few decades," Becker writes. We share the sentiment. Roosevelt's new tower is expected to be completed in time for next year's winter semester.
· A Brigadoon Moment at Adler & Sullivan's Auditorium [ArchitectureChicago PLUS]
· Roosevelt University Vertical Campus [VOA]