800-foot riverfront tower proposed to replace Chicago’s old General Growth Building
A team led by Dallas-based Howard Hughes Company and Chicago’s Riverside Investment and Development have taken the wraps off a dramatic 800-foot office building proposed for 110 N. Wacker. Currently home to the low-rise 220,000 square foot General Growth Building, the 1-acre site would feature 1,350,000 square feet of rentable space, a dramatic 40-foot lobby, and new public park space if realized. Designed by Goettsch Partners, the proposed skyscraper would be the tallest purely office building to be constructed in Chicago since 1990.
Much like its sibling at 150 N. Riverside, 110 N. Wacker was designed with open space, the pedestrian experience, and its relation to the Chicago River explicitly in mind. Roughly half of the site’s area will be public space comprised of an open-air park at its northern end as well as a 45-foot-wide block-wide riverwalk undercutting the tower’s western edge. To create this 55-foot-tall covered promenade, nine load-bearing columns would converge into three structural nodes at park level—further maximizing river views from the pedestrian perspective.
A stepped western facade ensures that river views are optimized for the building’s occupants. Additional tenant amenities include private outdoor terraces where the building steps back as it rises. With much of the project’s plaza level footprint dedicated to public space, retail will be kept relatively small. Space is set aside for a coffee shop-sized retailer to occupy the low-rise podium at the building’s northern end. This section will be built last to allow the north one-third of the site to serve as a materials staging and delivery area.
During its construction the project would also maximize the use of Lower Wacker Drive to minimize traffic disruptions at street level. Access to the building’s loading dock and roughly 150 parking spaces will also take place via the lower level of Chicago’s most famous double-decker street. Provided Hughes and Riverside can secure an anchor tenant, project contractor Clark Construction estimates a 36-month construction timeline.