Tall & Urban News

Just weeks after securing a zoning change from city officials, developer Sterling Bay is moving forward with its plans to demolish an older building on Michigan Avenue near Millennium Park and replace it with a 46-story mixed-use tower.

The existing four-story masonry structure at 300 N. Michigan Avenue landed its first demolition permit late last week. Although demolition work hasn’t started yet, a survey crew was on-site on the morning of 12 August 2019. The downtown property has sat vacant since its final commercial tenant moved out more than three years ago.

In its place, Sterling Bay, Magellan Development Group, and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group are planning a glassy 510-foot (155-meter) tower designed by bKL Architecture. The $252 million project calls for 289 rental apartments, 280 hotel rooms, ground-floor commercial space, and 22 parking spots.

The development team pledged seven units of affordable housing on-site, a $4 million contribution to the Affordable Housing Fund, and $3.9 million for Chicago’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund, which will be reinvested into the city’s underserved communities.

The upcoming mixed-use tower is the latest development to transform the stretch of Michigan Avenue just south of the river—an area some call Millennium Mile. Recent nearby projects include the MiLa apartments and Chicago Architecture Center as well as hospitality offerings like the Hotel Julian, LondonHouse Hotel, and the St. Jane Hotel.

300 N. Michigan Avenue is one of three recent bKL Architecture projects in Chicago. Cirrus, a 57-story skyscraper, as well as Cascade, a 37-story residential tower, are also being developed nearby the 300 N. Michigan Avenue project.

For more on this story, go to  Curbed Chicago.