Chicago Construction News staff writer
Construction has started on the first 48-story West Tower in a planned three-tower project in the Wolf Point area, part of a $1 billion development designed by César Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architect.
Politicians, developers, architects and union members attended the formal ceremonial groundbreaking for the luxury residential tower.
The $160 million west side skyscraper, named Wolf Point West, will be 493- ft.-tall and have 509 rental residential units with 579,000 sq. ft of floor space.
Thomas Kerwin of BKL Architecture designed the tower, developed by Hines and the Magellan Development Group. It is expected to be ready for residential occupancy in 2015.
After the completion of the Wolf Point West, next in line is the 950-feet-tall South tower – tallest of the three and eighth-tallest building in Chicago, which will contain hotels and offices with some retail space. The 750-feet-tall East tower is also planned to be a mixed-use building.
Located at the Y-shaped intersection of the northern, southern and western branches of Chicago River, the Wolf Point project will include 1285 parking spaces, 2.3 acres of pedestrian areas, over 100,000 sq. ft. of park and a river walk which is over 31 feet wide at south point. The developers say they are seeking LEED certification for the three towers.
The original design has been revised after local residents complained the project would block their views and cause increased traffic.
The original plan of the project has been revised due to the objections of the local residents who were concerned that the project would block views of the skyscrapers and will result in increased traffic. For the last 50 years the Wolf Point Development project was waiting to get green signal and finally it has started to the much delight of city planners.
The following sources were referred for the information in the article:
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http://www.bdcnetwork.com/three-tower-wolf-point-development-begins-construction-chicago
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http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2014/07/23/2-for-1-status-update-getting-the-points/
