The Loop

Redesign And Extension Approved For 130 N Franklin Street In The Loop

An extension has been granted and a redesign revealed for the mixed-use development at 130 N Franklin Street in The Loop. Located on the southwest corner with W Randolph Street, news of the proposal broke back in 2015 as a replacement of an existing empty lot along with a surface parking lot as well. Struggling to execute a tower on it, developer Tishman Speyer was granted an extension on their previous approval due to the last two years. The team at Tishman have been leading the efforts with local architecture firm Krueck Sexton Partners on all iterations of the design.

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7 South Dearborn

Dead by Design #5: 7 South Dearborn Street in The Loop

Next in our “Dead by Design” series of cancelled Chicago supertowers, we have a 112-story tower originally planned for 7 S Dearborn Avenue in The Loop. The mixed-use skyscraper would have measured 1,567 feet to its roof, marking what would have been its official height. However, the structure would have also been accompanied by three 433-foot-tall antennas that would have brought its pinnacle height to 2,000 feet, just one foot higher than last week’s Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle.

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Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle

Dead by Design #4: Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle in The Loop

One of Chicago’s tallest and most notorious cancelled developments is the 125-story Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle, the first in this series to surpass the Willis (Sears) Tower in height. Proposed in 1988 by Lee Miglin and J. Paul Beitler, this superstructure would have risen 1,999 feet at 201 W Madison Street in The Loop. If construction proceeded as planned up until its targeted 1993 completion, the tower would have reigned as world’s tallest building for 17 years leading up to the completion of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa in 2010. It is worth noting however that building’s sheer influence would very likely have altered the race to the top, creating what may have been a very different set of subsequent mega-towers around the world.

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One North Wacker

Dead by Design #3: One North Wacker in The Loop

This week, the “Dead by Design” series of cancelled Chicago towers will focus its spotlight on One North Wacker Drive, an 83-story office tower in The Loop. In 1989, real estate developer Harvey Walken first proposed the 1,276-foot edifice, which at the time would have made it fourth tallest in the world behind only the Sears (now Willis) Tower and New York’s twin towers.

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