flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Sterling Bay proposes SOM-designed office tower near Chicago’s newly opened Transit Center at Union Station

Office Buildings

Sterling Bay proposes SOM-designed office tower near Chicago’s newly opened Transit Center at Union Station

The building is one of several projects that are filling this developer’s plate in this city.


By John Caulfield, Senior Editor | September 20, 2016

Sterling Bay's proposal for a 958-foot-tall office tower is among an array of development and redevelopment projects it has in the works in Chicago. Image: SOM via skyscraperpage.com

The very active developer Sterling Bay has proposed a 958-foot-tall, 2-million-sf office tower that would be connected to Union Station in Chicago’s West Loop, on real estate owned by Amtrak. The office tower would be one of the tallest in the city.

Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Sterling Bay is already in talks with large tenants for this tower, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Sterling Bay, though, has not yet been chosen as Union Station’s master developer. 

Amtrak, Crain’s reports, has been trying to redevelop its 1.3-million-sf Union Station property for years. Last October, it announced plans to upgrade the existing building, and to seek developer partners to add 3 million sf of new structures over and around tracks and land it owns.

Sterling Bay has gained a reputation for redeveloping existing buildings, such as the conversion of the Fulton Market Cold Storage building, known as 1KFulton, to Google’s Midwest headquarters.

Its proposal for the addition to Union Station is one of several projects it has in the works, including two residential towers in Chicago, and a ground-up development for McDonald’s, which is moving its headquarters to the Fulton Market District from Oak Brook, Ill. That deal, says Crain’s, includes plans for a 200-room extended stay hotel just west of those headquarters.

The firm’s redevelopment of the recently acquired Coyne College campus has expanded to 1 million square feet of new office space—up from 400,000 square feet. And Sterling Bay is interested in purchasing the 18-acre Chicago Department of Fleet and Facility’s Management property, which the city has put up for sale. 

The SOM-designed tower would, in all likelihood, replace a parking garage located south of Union Station’s new $41 million Transit Center, which opened on Sept. 11.

Curbed Chicago points out that the design of this tower looks a lot like an unbuilt 40-story proposal for 625 W. Monroe from SMDP Studio in 2013, which eventually evolved into a redesigned 75-story proposal the next year, but has yet to be constructed.

Related Stories

| Feb 8, 2012

World’s tallest solar PV-installation

The solar array is at the elevation of 737 feet, making the building the tallest in the world with a solar PV-installation on its roof.

| Feb 2, 2012

Call for Entries: 2012 Building Team Awards. Deadline March 2, 2012

Winning projects will be featured in the May issue of BD+C. 

| Feb 2, 2012

Next phase of construction begins on Scripps Prebys Cardiovascular Institute

$456 million Institute will be comprehensive heart center for 21st Century.

| Feb 1, 2012

List of Top 10 States for LEED Green Buildings released?

USGBC releases list of top U.S. states for LEED-certified projects in 2011.

| Feb 1, 2012

ULI and Greenprint Foundation create ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance

Member-to-member information exchange measures energy use, carbon footprint of commercial portfolios.

| Jan 31, 2012

Chapman Construction/Design: ‘Sustainability is part of everything we do’

Chapman Construction/Design builds a working culture around sustainability—for its clients, and for its employees.

| Jan 26, 2012

Three dead, 16 missing in Rio buildings collapse

The buildings, one 20 floors high, collapsed on Wednesday night in a cloud of dust and smoke just one block away from the city's historic Municipal Theater.

| Jan 26, 2012

Summit Design+Build completes law office in Chicago

Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen's new office suite features private offices, open office area, conference rooms, reception area, exposed wood beams and columns, and exposed brick. 

| Jan 17, 2012

SOM Chicago wins competition to design China's Suzhou Center

The 75-level building is designed to accommodate a complex mixed-use program including office, service apartments, hotel and retail on a 37,000 sm site.

| Jan 15, 2012

Hollister Construction Services oversees interior office fit-out for Harding Loevner

The work includes constructing open space areas, new conference, trading and training rooms, along with multiple kitchenettes. 

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021