The Chicago City Council has fully approved a mixed-use development located at 1229 W Randolph Street in West Loop. Located at the intersection of W Randolph Start and N Willard Court, the corner lot currently houses a two-story masonry building. Thor Equities is the developer behind the proposal.
1229 W Randolph Street. Rendering by JGMA
1229 W Randolph Street. Rendering by JGMA
Designed by JGMA, the new construction will produce a nine-story, 120-foot-tall mixed-use building. Planned to accommodate multiple uses, the ground floor will hold retail space with the upper floors occupied by commercial office space. There will be no vehicular parking but six bike parking spaces are provided.
1229 W Randolph Street. Rendering by JGMA
View of 1229 W Randolph Street. Rendering by JGMA
The design intends to reference the local context and be sensitive to human and contextual scale. Starting with a full rectangular massing, the building is carved to relate to the adjacent building via a terrace carved into the building. To match that carving, a rooftop terrace is inserted at the top of the structure. The notion of carving is continued across the entire building. Sections of the project show the times of enclosure matched with moments of openings in the forms of balconies.
North Elevation for 1229 W Randolph Street. Drawing by JGMA
East Elevation for 1229 W Randolph Street. Drawing by JGMA
The northern and eastern facades are treated as the main faces of the building. With all sides visible to the street, the western wall will be adorned with a public mural. The retail portion will be accessed from W Randolph Street while office tenants will enter on N Willard Court. Materials for the project will be based on the context using masonry and steel.
Sections of 1229 W Randolph Street. Drawings by JGMA
Sections of 1229 W Randolph Street. Drawings by JGMA
The development will meet all sustainability requirements via multiple efforts. This includes the achievement of an EnergyStar certification, exceeding the energy code, reducing indoor water use, including bike parking, planting new trees, and implementing the diversion of 80 percent of construction waste.
Site Plan for 1229 W Randolph Street. Drawing by JGMA
Typical Floor Plans for 1229 W Randolph Street. Drawings by JGMA
As part of the project, the site will be rezoned from C1-3 to DX-5, while using the Neighborhood Opportunity Bonus to increase the floor area ratio (FAR) from 5 to 8.1. The developer will pay $235,000 into the fund to receive the FAR bonus. The development has previously received Chicago Plan Commission approval and zoning approval. Totaling $8 million, construction will be executed by a joint venture between a general contractor and minority contractor yet to be selected. Construction is expected to break ground this year.
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Very nice, and very unique. No parking makes this project even better.
This is the model Chicago needs to encourage developers to build and adopt zoning regulations to facilitate it. Buildings of this nature should define our built environment for inner-ring neighborhoods rather than sprawling-4-story-boxes for the overwhelming majority of projects. Slim footprint, active base, “big-city” scale, attractive design, etc. Buildings like this 8 stories and up should line our major corridors.