Forget the condos. Helmut Jahn-designed skyscraper gets OK for 738 apartments.
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Helmut Jahn’s tallest Chicago building could soon resume construction after a series of setbacks that stalled the South Michigan Avenue project, including the famed architect’s death in a May cycling accident.
Revised plans for the 1000M residential tower were approved Thursday by the Chicago Plan Commission.
If approved soon by the City Council, as expected, construction of the 73-story project could restart as soon as this fall, according to the developers. Work on the building stopped more than a year ago.
At the latest, resumption of construction is expected by next spring, Time Equities Chairman and CEO Francis Greenburger said in emailed statement. The statement did not provide details about financing.
The zoning change requested would allow Time Equities, JK Equities and Oak Capitals to shift the building at 1000 S. Michigan Ave. to apartments, from condominiums.
“The pandemic period has been challenging for everyone,” Greenburger said in the statement. “We have dealt with these challenges and changes in market conditions by adjusting our development plan in a responsible way so as to have the best final result.”
Changes would include reducing the height of the building to 73 stories and 805 feet tall. That’s a reduction of one floor and 27 feet from the previous plan. The new plan would allow for as many as 738 apartments, an increase of 217 units from the condo design.
“Market experts have told us that comparable high amenity luxury buildings like 1000M are in high demand and renting briskly,” Greenburger said in the statement.
The ambitious plan was years in the works when construction began in late 2019. At the time it was the largest condo project by number of units to break ground in Chicago since the Great Recession.
In early 2020, with only part of the foundation built, work halted because of what the developers described as safety concerns related to the public health crisis.
Last July, the developers told the Tribune construction was stopped indefinitely because their construction lender, Goldman Sachs, had stopped funding the $470 million project because of concerns about the real estate market.
Late last year, the developers’ focus shifted to apartments, which are easier to finance because they don’t require financial commitments from residents in advance.
As the 1000M plan was switching to apartments, the skyscraper’s designer — the German-born Jahn, who gained international renown as a Chicago-based architect — died in May after being struck by multiple cars while riding his bicycle in the western suburbs. He was 81.
Immediately after Jahn’s death, 1000M’s developers vowed to complete the tower near the south end of Grant Park.
The restarted 1000M would create more than 2,300 construction jobs and 26 full-time jobs, according to city documents on the project.
The developers would create 23 affordable units in the tower, pay $828,000 to the city’s affordable housing fund and contribute about $407,000 to the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.
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