Here are the highlights of the new One Central project:
Net site area: 1,358,264 square feet
Open space: 395,339 square feet
Floor area ratio: 16.42 (16.0 base + .42 bonus)
Nine new skyscrapers, arranged north-south between East McFetridge Drive and McCormick Place
Four residential towers on the north end, plus several small residential buildings.
9,300,000 square feet
9,050 residences total
Four commercial towers in the middle.
9,450,000 square feet
One hotel tower at the south end, next to the convention center.
1,500,000 square feet
A new transit hub
CTA train spur from the current Green and Orange tracks
Metra commuter trains
South Shore Line commuter trains
Amtrak trains
“ChiLine” service. This looks like one of those downtown transit circulators that certain second- and third-tier cities have. It’s just a bus route with a fancy paint job, so don’t get excited. You can put puppies in the oven, but that don’t make them biscuits.
100 feet tall above podium, 161 feet above grade
5 stories
A “welcome center”
350,000 square feet
A pedestrian bridge linking East 15th Place and Solider Field
A 1,000’ building will never see the light of day that far south. These “mega-projects” with the ready made downtowns (just add water) approach is getting ridiculous. Chicago needs to densify and urbanize traditionally.
Despite the towers being connected with mid-rise development at their podium, I think the density looks very inorganic compared to the rest of Chicago.
I feel like with this, Lincoln Yards, Bronzeville, and the 78, Chicago can at least catch up to NYC in some ways. Getting that extra bit of infill and developing some architectural stronghold on the near south side would really help in terms of achieving that additional urbanization that this city needs. NYC is taking a bit of a breather right now, so Chicago, it’s your time to strike. The 606 needs a real termination spot like the High Line has in NYC, so Lincoln Yards is the best bet. Bronseville should teach NYC that it’s okay to build really high-density development in mid-rise public housing areas. The 78 should be a decent, smaller project that puts some pressure on the holdouts surrounding it. Overall, there are some dice here Chicago.