500-foot apartment tower headed to Chicago’s Greektown

FitzGerald Associates

The unprecedented development boom taking place in Chicago’s West Loop is about to yield its tallest project yet—a 44-story cylindrical tower known as One South Halsted. First publicly revealed back in 2011 and approved by the city the following year, the long-discussed development went relatively quiet for a number of years until suddenly landing a somewhat unexpected construction permit late last week. The tower will replace the Crowne Plaza’s surface lot just west of the Kennedy Expressway in the heart of Greektown.

One South Halsted comes from co-developers Fifield Companies and F&F Realty with design work headed by FitzGerald Associates Architects. It will contain 492 rental apartment units, 9,500 square feet of ground floor retail, and a 375-stall parking garage to be shared between residents and guests of the Crowne Plaza. An earlier plan calling for 520 parking spots has sensibly been pared down. An idea to incorporate a new ballroom connected to the existing hotel via elevated bridge has been scratched from the original proposal.

The tweaked design still features an ellipse-shaped tower connected to an 80-foot boxy podium topped by an amenity level. While the podium is fairly unremarkable, the upper portion will feature a metal and glass facade system with a two-toned spiral pattern that should look pretty interesting if realized as rendered.

FitzGerald Associates

Stretching 472 feet to the top of its highest residential floor and 495 to its architectural pinnacle, One South Halsted will be Chicago’s tallest building west of the Kennedy. The current holder of that distinction is the 420-foot Skybridge project completed in 2003 just one block to the north.

Filed under an alternate address of 727 W. Madison, the recently approved permit estimates the job at $136 million and covers foundation and structural-only work up to the underside of the 8th floor. Lendlease will serve as the project’s general contractor.

• New construction permit at 727 W. Madison St. [Chicago Cityscape]
• One South Halsted: Greektown's Sleeping Giant May Rise Before Summer [Curbed Chicago]