New looks inside Michigan Avenue’s Essex on the Park apartment tower, opening this spring

The 620-foot South Loop high-rise offers stunning views of Grant Park and Lake Michigan

By Jay Koziarz Jan 3, 2019, 2:05pm CST

After nearly two-years of construction, Chicago’s Essex on the Park tower is starting to sign leases for its 479 apartment units on its way to an anticipated spring completion.

The 56-story South Loop high-rise broke ground in early 2017. The project from developers Oxford Capital Group and Quadrum Global and Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture (HPA) replaces an unremarkable parking garage at 808 S. Michigan Avenue with a hard-to-ignore skyscraper wrapped in green-tinted glass.

Building amenities include a dramatic four-story winter garden with an indoor pool overlooking Grant Park, an outdoor patio with grilling stations, a fitness center with an indoor/outdoor yoga studio, a party room, cocktail lounge, game room, and a private conference room.

Additionally, residents will have access to all of the services of the adjacent Hotel Essex. Previously known as the Essex Inn, the renovated hotel will offer a new restaurant and retractable-walled elevated bar when it opens later this year.

The apartment tower is also Chicago’s first residential building to earn Well Certification. According to its developers, the health-focused designation was achieved with technologies that provide cleaner air and water and reduce fatigue from light glare and exterior noise.

Essex on the Park is expected to welcome its first move-ins on March 1. Initially monthly rents for studio units start at $1,750 while convertible apartments start at $1,950, one-bedrooms at $2,400, and two-bedrooms at $3,520.

The 620-foot tower is one of several new high-rise projects reshaping downtown’s southern skyline. Essex will be joined by the 896-foot NEMA Chicago and the 523-foot Paragon apartment building—both on track to open this year. Meanwhile, pre-construction sales are also underway for the nearby 832-foot, Jahn-designed condo proposal known as 1000M.