CITY HALL — The Plan Commission signed off Thursday on an extensive rehab project and a new 620-foot residential skyscraper at 800 S. Michigan Ave.
The overall project includes the renovation and upgrading of the Essex Inn, 800 S. Michigan Ave., along with a 620-foot, 476-unit skyscraper next door at 812 S. Michigan.
According to John Rutledge, chief executive officer of Oxford Capital Group, which is developing the project, the Essex will get a green roof and be upgraded from a three-star hotel to a four- or 4½-star hotel. Meeting rooms will be reconverted to give it a total of 290 rooms.
Just this month, the Essex cleared the first hurdles toward being granted landmark status. The owners sought the status, and it should not interfere with the renovation, although the Essex's next-door parking garage, which was not included in the preservation proposal, will be the site of the high-rise.
That building will include four stories of "hidden" parking, and a four-story atrium with a pool on the Michigan Avenue facade.
"I love the architecture," said Ald. Sophia King (4th), who also lauded the developers for granting more affordable-housing units than were necessary under the city's old Affordable Requirements Ordinance.
A couple of local residents complained about the height of the skyscraper, with Marcus Ibrahim suggesting it could cast a shadow across Buckingham Fountain as early as 3 p.m.
Yet David Reifman, commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development, said it was within standards set in February for the Historic Michigan Boulevard District, and that it's consistent with even taller buildings to the south, including the upcoming "Big Jahn" from architect Helmut Jahn at 1000 S. Michigan.
Architecture aficionado Butler Adams said, "There's no such thing as too tall in Downtown Chicago, the city that invented the skyscraper."
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