Doubtful; this is most likely just a massing model - considering that the previous, conceptual design was more elaborate, I personally don't think this is the final design.

not even close. this project is only at 22nd street, which is very much still in the city. the city limits of chicago extend south along the lakeshore all the way to the indiana border, and extend further south from there all the way down to 138th street, over 14 miles south of where this project is located.

I meant South of Downtown, I should have been more specific

oh, in terms of downtown this project is about 2 miles south of state/madison, the heart of the loop.

Well...... at 700 ft it is going to be double the height of the tallest buildings in that area. It will really stick out in the skyline that far south of anything else that tall. I would prefer the original design but i will reserve judgement until we get more finalized design. Either way...a nice tall building expanding the skyline is a win my book.

APPROVED BY PLAN COMMISSION

51 floors

576'

It's 10 floors shorter and 1 bay wider than the 715' version.

However, the PD was approved for 685' so there's a slight possibility that that's what we'll get.

The current Hyatt is 344' for reference.

Yikes, that's almost 100 feet shorter than the very first proposal of 671'. Perhaps because they shifted the office/ballrooms over to the ABC building that doesn't necessitate the 671' height. It will still be an impressive sight for those traveling in to the city along I-55 though...

meh. still tall enough to have major impact at that location.

i'm much more concerned about the design. this project started out with so much high-design promise, but seems like it might have gone through the VE shredder.

victor, was there any new building imagery (renderings, elevations, etc.) presented at the meeting?

Eh, it'll do for that location.

Nope

The data center was also approved at 12 stories and 310 feet. The original zoning notice in February had it at 11 stories and 288 feet.

I also still find it odd to have the data center east of the hotel tower - it's going to block half of the lake views. You'd think swapping the towers would result in a much more profitable hotel.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,5486194.story

McCormick Place entertainment district zoning approved

^ unfortunate to hear about the downsizing of the hotel tower, but like many have stated its still going to leave quite an impression on the skyline that far south. Hopefully sets a precedent for tall buildings being built south of the South Loop proper.

I think it definitely sets precedent, so when they finally build on the Reese site or the staging lot south of 55 hopefully they can go as tall there.

So this isn't even going to be 600 ft? That sucks. What do we Chicago forumers use as a cutoff for projects that get their own threads? 500 ft?

So, the 715 foot version was reduced to 576 ~ 685 not because of a reduction in rooms (still 1200) or because of difficulty in getting zoning, but rather just because of VE'ing, basically? Just like the design itself was VE'd.

So pretty much it from 730 foot building to being downsized to 575 ' ? If so, that's kinda disappointing.

What is "VE'ing"?

^Value Engineering. It's shorthand for simplifying designs and cheapening out on materials.