Riverside Wins Two Awards at the Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards Dinner
Riverside Investment & Development Company was named the winner of the Developer of the Year and received the award for Development of the Year – Commercial for its 320 South Canal office building at the 2022 Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards. Hundreds of Chicago’s top architects, brokers, developers, property managers, interior contractors and design professionals gathered at the Hilton Chicago on Thursday, May 19, to celebrate the 34th Annual Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards and to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository. More than $1.1 million was raised to support work to end hunger in Chicago and throughout Cook County when the need in communities is critical.
“We are honored to accept this prestigious recognition and represent the entire 320 South Canal project team, including our co-development partner Convexity,” said John O’Donnell, Riverside Investment & Development CEO. “Projects like 320 South Canal are undoubtedly a team endeavor. In addition to our partners, I would like to give special recognition to others who played an integral role in bringing this trophy-class property to life, including our architect, Goettsch Partners, general contractor Clark Construction, property management from CBRE and our senior construction lenders, BMO Harris, Bank of America and Citizen’s Bank”.
320 South Canal is a 50-story Class A trophy office tower delivered in late 2021, comprised of 1.5M rentable square feet and a 1.5-acre privately-owned public plaza located at the intersection of Canal Street and Van Buren Street. Designed by award-winning architect Goettsch Partners, 320 South Canal Street features innovative health and wellness design, excellent light and air with 360 views of the city and Lake Michigan. Design features include 29K-32K RSF, highly efficient rectilinear floor plates, 9’6” finished ceiling heights (12’ on select floors), private terraces on select floors, and the well-appointed amenities today’s workforce expects.
The Park at 320 was constructed on the western two-thirds of the site to serve both the building and the immediately adjacent neighborhood, which is set to open in late June 2022. This park will be innovative in its layout focusing on seating and programming. Unlike many other parks, this park will include a whole gamut of activities and activations, which will consist of fitness in the park, food trucks, farmers market, evening movies, lunchtime music and outdoor games. The development has hired staff to organize and set up/break down these events as part of its building operations. The Park at 320 is situated above a 350-parking garage hidden due to the landscape features. The park was even designed to allow the placement of a skating rink in the winter months to provide winter activation.
The challenges for this project occurred at each stage of its pre-development and during development. The site was acquired from Amtrack in a complex negotiation involving the historic Union Station Headhouse and Amtrak’s plan for its redevelopment. The zoning for the site intertwined with the historic Union Station Headhouse, leading to additional scrutiny in the design and traffic management of the whole area.
Lastly, we have continued efforts to explore additional development sites. Riverside pursues significant complexity and scale opportunities to deliver dynamic mixed-use spaces in a live-work-play urban setting. We approach our real estate transactions with the fundamental goal of exceeding the highest quality standards in the market. Our projects are designed to significantly enhance each user’s personal and professional life, prioritizing wellness, efficiency, amenities, functionality, and technology. This has led us to expand our geographic footprint to and developing large-scale projects in both Denver and Charlotte.
Riverside Investment and Development will continue to bring high-quality buildings to all our future developments.
Riverside Investment and Development Company was founded in 2010 by John O’Donnell, a longtime Chicago real estate veteran. Riverside focuses on the pursuit of complex development and redevelopment opportunities in urban environments.