Two Lakeshore East residential towers target summer construction start

The first of three new high-rises planned for the vacant northeast corner of Chicago’s Lakeshore East community will break ground this summer, project co-developers LendLease and Magellan announced this week.

Slated for 211 N. Harbor Drive, the 47-story lakefront condominium tower known as Cirrus is currently launching sales for its 363 units, which will range between 650 and 3,000 square feet and priced from the mid-$400,000s to $4 million.

The upcoming condo tower will break ground simultaneously with Cascade—a 37-story, 503-unit apartment building to the immediate west.

In addition to sporting a similar curvilinear glass and metal design penned by Lakeshore East-based bKL Architecture, Cirrus and Cascade will sit atop a connected parking podium and share some, but not all, residential amenities.

The project also includes a sloping “Cascade Park” from designer Claude Cormier + Associés that will connect the downtown neighborhood to the lakefront trail. The public green space gives its name to the rental tower above.

Once Cirrus and Cascade are complete, Magellan and Lendlease will then begin work on a third, even taller condominium tower at the primo corner site known as “parcel I.” Also designed by bKL, the yet-to-be-named skyscraper will rise 950 feet above Harbor Drive to make a bold architectural statement where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan.

Zoning for the $1.1 billion, three-building development was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission in October after Alderman Brendan Reilly demanded revisions. At an August meeting, the development team said that they expect total construction to take between five and seven years to complete.

Cirrus is on track to welcome its first move-ins some time in 2021.