November 28, 2007 – When completed in May 2009, 353 North Clark will be 624 feet in height – 36 feet taller than the residential towers at Marina City on the other side of North Dearborn Street. A new web site and brochure produced by the developer and owner, Mesirow Financial Real Estate, Inc., offers glimpses of the new building. The $442 million project was announced one year ago. 353 North Clark will be a 46-story office tower with glass and steel exterior.

A 32-foot lobby will feature ultra-clear “Porsche” glass and stainless steel, two types of granite and two colors of marble accents.

66 percent of the rentable office space will be occupied by Mesirow Financial and the law firm of Jenner & Block. Total building space will be 1.1 million square feet.

According to the building’s brochure, “two sophisticated, white tablecloth restaurants will offer high-end cuisine.”

The building will also include a 500-seat auditorium, 200-stall underground parking garage, 22 high-speed elevators, and a health club for building tenants.

The architects are Dirk Lohan of Lohan Anderson LLC (the grandson of Mies van der Rohe, widely regarded as a pioneer of modern architecture) and A. Epstein & Sons International. The general contractor is Bovis Lend Lease, Inc.

Besides being a neighbor, 353 North Clark has three other Marina City connections. Leasing, management and financing is being handled by Jones Lang LaSalle, which owns Hotel Sax. One of the four lenders is Transwestern Realty Finance Partners, a subsidiary of the commercial property manager at Marina City.

In 1994, Jenner & Block was hired by Marina Towers Condominium Association – and Marina City architect Bertrand Goldberg – to contest the sale of the commercial complex to developer John L. Marks.