Tall & Urban News

Global architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) announced the groundbreaking on 20 December 2019 for Union Station Tower, also known as BMO Tower, a new 50-story office building in the West Loop neighborhood. GP is serving as the architect for the project, developed by Riverside Investment & Development and Convexity Properties and anchored by Montreal-based BMO Financial Group. The tower and new public space are part of the larger redevelopment of Chicago Union Station, along with additional adjacent real estate owned by Amtrak.

Located directly south of the 1925 Union Station headhouse building, the 2.2-acre (0.9-hectare) full-block site is positioned in a rapidly-changing area of the West Loop, with close connections to transit and the major expressways. The program consists of 1.5 million square feet (139,000 square meters) of Class-A office space and associated amenities, including two levels of underground parking. Most of the site, about 1.5 acres (0.6 hectares), is set aside as a public park, similar to GP’s 150 North Riverside project, completed in 2017, with its ample public park and plaza on the river.

“This project will activate a prime site that has been largely underutilized next to Chicago’s busiest commuter station,” says James Goettsch, FAIA, chairman and co-CEO at GP, as well as the design leader for the project. “The office tower and park will bring vibrant, complementary additions to the city.”

Union Station Tower is designed as a stepped, three-tiered building approximately 727 feet (221 meters) tall. The building is oriented in the north-south direction along the east side of its site and features a subtly folded façade. The east face of the building aligns with the property line, reinforcing the urban street wall defined by the historic headhouse on the adjacent block. At street level, the new tower’s primary façades express V-shaped structural transfers, which open up the ground floor. In this way, the park becomes an integral and welcoming part of the building and its entry sequence, and the building serves as an extension of the park.

“Similar to our approach on other buildings, we pay particular attention to how the building meets the ground, which is as important to pedestrians as it is to the building tenants,” notes Joachim Schuessler, principal, and senior project designer at GP. “The very large structural transfers open up the ground floor of the building in such a way that the lobby becomes a part of the streetscape and the streetscape becomes a part of the lobby.”

Another GP office tower is currently under construction at 110 North Wacker and scheduled for completion in 2020. The BMO Tower is anticipating completion in 2022.

Meanwhile, just a few blocks north in the Fulton Market neighborhood, developers Related Midwest and Tucker Development now have the blessing from the Chicago Plan Commission to build a 43-story tower across the street at 906 West Randolph Street / 170 North Peoria Street.

While 500-foot buildings like 727 West Madison are the norm along the eastern edge of the West Loop, at a minimum of 495 feet (151 meters), the Randolph Street tower will still stand head and shoulders above its immediate mid-rise neighbors, even though it received a haircut from its original 570-foot (174-meter) height.

The project earned the Plan Commission’s approval, but it will not set a new precedent for the area, according to Chicago Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox, who said he would like the area to “remain at a smaller scale.”

Another noteworthy aspect of the project is its change from 300 for-sale condos an approval for 300 rental apartments. The current plan calls for 272 units, of which 20 percent will set aside as affordable housing. On-site parking has been reduced from 300 to 75 spaces to take advantage of the development’s transit-friendly location.

For more on these stories, go to Goettsch Partners and Curbed Chicago.