The south end of Grant Park will soon be framed with the development of four condominium towers running along Roosevelt that will add contemporary designs to the city's changing skyline.

Developers are seeking approval for a height increase for two of the towers, making them taller and slimmer, which Gerald Fogelson, co-chairman and chief executive of Central Station Development Corp., says is the future of architecture. Fogelson presented the design plans at a 2nd Ward community meeting last week.

"Architecture has changed a great deal over the past several years," Fogelson said at the meeting.

Fogelson submitted a request in September asking to increase the towers' height by approximately 10 stories, adding an extra 100 feet. Two of the towers are under construction, and if the city and community grant approval, Fogelson plans to start marketing the third tower in early 2008.

While the developers are seeking a height increase, the change would not add more units because the structures will be slimmer. The third tower, which would have 73 stories and 425 units with 460 parking spaces, was designed to resemble a sail with a wave going through it when looking at it southwest from Roosevelt and Indiana. The fourth tower, which would have 83 stories and 420 units with 457 parking spaces, has not yet been designed. Both towers are planned to have retail spaces at ground level.
 
More than 2,000 residences have been sold in the first two towers. Ninety-five percent of the units in the first tower are sold and 65 percent have been sold in the second tower. The first building will be topping out at the end of the month, and Fogelson said occupancy is expected to begin by the end of the first quarter of 2008. Construction of the second tower will start coming out of the ground in December.

Bob O'Neill, president of the Grant Park Conservancy, said the design for the two towers to be taller and slimmer is one of the most environmentally-friendly movements. The design uses less land and will cast less of a shadow on the park. The towers parallel the high-rises on the north end of the park on the New East Side.

"If we don't have the tall, thin buildings there, we aren't going to have the symmetry of the frame of the park and the environmentally-friendly design," O'Neill said.

While the project was approved long before freshman 2nd Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti was elected, he says he is supportive of the development and the request for added height.

"I am impressed with the design," he said. "It significantly alters our landscape for the future and makes the city an award-winning architectural gem. I believe all the community not only likes it, but loves it."

The plan for the 80 acres of Central Station to be developed into a mix of high-rises, flats, town homes, parking and retail began in 1990. Development guidelines set by the city are some of the most comprehensive in Chicago.

"In just two decades, you will see an area that was desolate become one of the most successful residential communities in the world," O'Neill said. "It's been a complete transformation of what was written off as the South Side of Chicago."

Originally, the plan included a solid wall of shorter buildings, which would not have added anything to the city's skyline.

"If we're going to be a globally competitive city, these buildings have to be the landmarks of tomorrow and they have to be beautiful buildings," O'Neill said. "Those buildings are going to be viewed for generations by millions of people."

Some nearby residents said the new towers are going to contribute to the heavy congestion and limited street parking already plaguing the area. However, O'Neill said most of those issues stem from Roosevelt being a main thoroughfare to the Museum Campus and lakeshore, adding that there are only about 450 parking spaces per high-rise. Adding more parking spaces in the towers would bring more congestion to the area and be counter productive, he said.

Fogelson said they have not even been able to sell all of the parking spaces in their buildings, adding that they built the nearby Sky 55 development with several hundred extra parking spaces and there are currently more than 200 available.
 
"We have much less congestion than other places in the city," he said at the meeting.

As with all developments, Fioretti says a few of his main concerns are traffic and infrastructure. He said he is planning a traffic study through the Department of Planning to examine how each development affects parking and traffic flow concerns in the South Loop.

Others who attended the meeting said the current construction of Grant Park Towers I and II has resulted in cracks in the pavement and sidewalks in the surrounding community. Fioretti said before a certificate of occupancy is granted to the developer, the area will have to be inspected and approved.

The meeting became standing-room-only, and besides some of the concerns raised, the design of the third tower was well received.

CONTACT: hgraham@chicagojournal.com