Plans For Chicago's Third Tallest Skyscraper Pass The Plan Commission

By Kate Shepherd in News on Nov 20, 2015 7:02PM

Studio Gang

Move over, Aon Center. The Wanda Vista hotel and condominium tower, which will become Chicago's third tallest building, was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission Thursday.

The $1 billion tower designed by Jeanne Gang will clock in at 1,186 feet, about 40 feet higher than previously announced, according to the Tribune. It will surpass the 1,136 foot Aon Center and only rank behind the 1,451-foot Willis Tower and the 1,389-foot Trump International Hotel & Tower as the skyline's tallest buildings.

The skyscraper will have a prime location with riverfront and lakefront views in the 300 block of East Wacker Drive. It's backed by Chinese real estate developer, the Wanda Group and the local Magellan Development Group and the financing for the tower is still being arranged.

The developers want to start construction next summer and to finish the tower by 2020, Magellan Executive Vice President Sean Linnane said after the planning commission vote. The final hurdle for the project is City Council approval which is expected because the project has Mayor Rahm Emanuel's backing.

Plans for the 1.6 million-square-foot tower include 210 hotel rooms in the lower portion of the tower and 410 condominiums (some full-floor) in the higher floors.

The three-tiered, glass-sheathed tower will be built next to a viaduct that creates multiple street levels. The lowest level, Sub Wacker Drive, is currently home to a city auto pound. The project would turn that level into a pedestrian passageway to run beneath the central section of the skyscraper. The path would link the Lakeshore East park with the riverwalk.

Wanda Vista in the skyline (it looks smaller than the Aon Center because the Wanda Vista's planned height has been increased). Studio Gang

Studio Gang