August 25, 2014 – Two apartment towers that were stuck behind objections from 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly have been approved. The Chicago Plan Commission on Friday unanimously approved a 38-story, 298-unit building at 720 North LaSalle Street (left) and a 39-story, 450-unit building at 167 West Erie Street.

Both towers are being developed by Magellan Development Group, LLC and will include commercial space on the ground floor.

The LaSalle Street project, designed by bKL Architects, will include an 80-foot-long public park. It took almost five months for Magellan to get a zoning reclassification for it. The request was referred to the Committee on Zoning, Landmarks, and Building Standards on April 2.

During that time, public meetings co-hosted by River North Residents Association were held, including one on May 19.

“Out of those meetings came requests for green space, infrastructure improvements, high-quality design [and] materials, and more trees,” says Reilly. “We are pleased to report that the…two projects were able to deliver on each of those requests.”

The apartment tower on North LaSalle Street will replace a Howard Johnson Inn and the one on West Erie Street is the former location of Gino’s East.

(Right) 167 West Erie Street, designed by Loewenberg Architects.

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