Well, if they’re only going up to 800 ft (yeah we’re spoiled here in Chicago—in any other city not named New York this would be a huge deal) then we should push hard for some other concessions, I think

I thought the same thing. 800 feet isn't that tiny, especially right there on the river. By Chicago standards it's not really that high but definitely a nice addition.

But yea I hope it's redesigned and looks really nice. That would help the upset over the height reduction.

^...Lets stop trying to rationalize this like we always tend to do after a height reduction...800ft for this specific building at this particular site is an absolute letdown and totally mislead from all the literature and intent the developer has released up to this point for the last few years

I agree it's disappointing but at the end of the day there's nothing we can do. May as well be happy to see another 800 footer in Chicago. Especially along the river where it'll have more of an impact/look good.

Consider yourself lucky you live in a city where 800 foot buildings are barely noticeable on the skyline ;)

- Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce) talking about the SF tower on twitter. (source)

Some hope for a public-accessible top floor in WPS!

Why would this engender hope for a public accessible top floor here? 800 foot towers don't have observation decks.

^Not in Chicago at the very least. But it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have an observation deck at that height. I prefer the Signature Room over Skydeck for a lot of reasons obviously but a major reason is that being 300 feet lower makes it feel like you are inthe city as opposed to above the city. It would be a perfect location too.

Yep, sometimes I prefer those views of the city where you are like 500 feet up(i.e. typical office building views) but can see all the layers and the streets below at the same time. Something magical and forest-like about it. As opposed to the Sears Tower view, which is no doubt awe inspiring, but it removes you from that magical element that makes a city a city.

Right, but we’re skyscraper nerds. The average tourist is not going
to choose 800 feet over 1400 or 1200 and the developers seem pretty intent on doing nothing noteworthy.

Observation deck, no. Rooftop bar and restaurant, yes.

Yesss

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping for... and to be honest, at this point you'd think any self respecting developer with a prominent building on a prominent lot would aim to do. It's basically a zero risk move

It would take some of the sting out of the bait and switch. A truly lovely and inviting park space and a top floor restaurant. But i'll never be happy with it at 800 feet. It's nowhere near Block 37 disappointment bc these buildings are obviously all very good and substantial. But I really can't stand the duplicity here, the empty promises. Perhaps they'll surprise us and stick to the original figures. A hotel would do really well here. Those panoramic views.

^^^ Panoramic views and plopped right in the middle of the massive amount of office space that has come online in the last 10 years around Wolf Point between River North (Merch Mart, et al) and the class A stuff along Randolph and Lake. Not to mention sitting on top of a million SF of it.

Like I said before, we have seen one paraphrasing from one person involved, I would take it with a grain of salt until we see actual plans and renderings. Hell, Salesforce Tower in SF is only like 850' of office with like 200' of LED screen on top of it. IF they were to do something similar here, that would make this almost programmatically identical to SF in SF. Also if that board is used entirely for non-commercial purposes like art (again similar to SFSF), then the Chicago signage ordinances don't apply.

Ok I'll hold on to this optimism for now ;)

^Yep! Lot of things still to come. "800FT Tower" could still mean ~890 without any redesigns or additions. Look at 110N. Last week it was at 770 and we are now looking at 820. Trib 2 was ~1388 earlier this year and when it was released it bumped to ~1422 and I wouldn't be surprised if it went even higher before approval.

Right, and logically you'd think they'd want it significantly taller than the adjacent 680' East Tower.

I take it you're joking. But if not my favorite observation deck in NYC is the Top of the Rock at just over 800 feet.

Nah, I much prefer having a view above it all. The sunsets and sunrises are so damn beautiful in this city. Makes the storms more fun too

I just want more news on this project...

I'm with you there. I prefer the mixed view of looking down on some buildings, and up on others than just looking down at everyone's rooftops.