Helmut Jahn's Revised 1000 S. Michigan Avenue Tower Breaks Cover

The new design is 832 feet — down from the previous 1001-foot proposal

By Jay Koziarz Mar 1, 2016, 10:11am CST

Last night an updated design for Helmut Jahn’s 1000 S. Michigan Avenue project was presented at a meeting hosted by the Near South Planning Board. The South Loop residential building, now dubbed "1000M," is 73-stories and has indeed lost its "supertall" status by rising to 832 feet instead of the 1001-foot height that was presented in October. While the redesign of 1000M was certainly influenced by the amended guidelines of the Historic Michigan Avenue District set forth by the City of Chicago Landmarks Commission, the change was also a result of constructive input received from the City’s Department of Planning and Development, the Alderman, and South Loop neighbors, according to the project’s zoning attorney Jack Georges.

Developed by New York-based JK Equities and Time Equities, 1000M features 506 units with 307 condominiums and the remainder serving as rental units. The building site holds a DX-16 zoning classification (one of the highest in Chicago) and the plan’s total floor to area ratio (FAR) is 21.44 spread across two sub-areas: the empty parking lot at 1000 S. Michigan and the existing building to the south at 1006 S. Michigan. This allows the new tower to slightly cantilever over its southern neighbor to help provide 20 feet of courtesy separation between 1000M and 910 S. Michigan to its immediate north.

Architect Helmut Jahn described his new building as a "beautiful, signature design" that manages to respects the historic Michigan Avenue streetwall while also making a bold statement and anchoring the southern portion of the Chicago skyline. While the previous design featured abrupt steps outward as the building rose and widened towards the top, Jahn’s new vision changes shape gently as the floor plates gradually transition from a smaller rectangle at the bottom to a larger parallelogram at its top. Jahn explained that the building’s southwest corner curves as a reference to the naturalism of the park and lake while the northwest corner features a sharp edge as an aesthetic nod to the Loop’s street grid. The new design certainly feels more Jahn-like and definitely shows a familiar resemblance to Chicago’s 60 East Fairbanks and New York’s now under-construction 50 West Street tower.

The new proposal’s 10-story garage contains 486 stalls which is 112 less than the previous design. The building’s parking can be accessed via a porte cochere that connects to 9th Street and the eastern face of the garage is lined with active residential uses, effectively hiding it from Michigan Avenue. The parking is topped with a resident amenity level setback and two outrigger-style loadbearing "super columns" to support the gap that distinguishes the tower's upper levels and the more historically contextualized base. The concept of visual separation is also carried over to 1000M's facade system which features more metal on the lower section before transitioning to an airier, more glass intensive scheme above.

Residents in attendance of the meeting were generally supportive of the project and several praised the elegance of the redesign. While city approval is obviously still pending, JK Equities’ Jerry Karlik said he and his team hope to have the entitlement process complete by June or July of this year and break ground within 12 to 15 months if all goes to plan. In additional to its contribution to the skyline, 1000M is expected to bring an additional $10 million in tax revenue to city coffers annually, according to the development team.