SOUTH LOOP — Things are looking up again in the South Loop.
City officials issued a building permit Friday for a 76-story apartment tower planned for the southern end of Grant Park, records show. If built, the 792-unit skyscraper at 1200 S. Indiana Ave. would be the tallest in the city south of Willis Tower.
A model of the tower presented to neighbors last year. [DNAinfo/David Matthews]
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The tower is the shorter of two supertall buildings planned for the corner of Roosevelt Road and Indiana Avenue by Miami-based Crescent Heights, which acquired the property in 2012. Future plans call for a taller, 648-unit condominium tower on the western end of the site and a public park and 100 townhomes off Indiana.
The project is one of many high-profile additions coming soon to the South Loop, one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city. The Crescent Heights tower would be slightly taller than the 73-story Helmut Jahn skyscraper planned for 1000 S. Michigan Ave. New towers are also planned at 800 and 1326 S. Michigan Ave.
Crescent Heights' goal "is to achieve and create an iconic building that will anchor the south end of Grant Park," Ted Novak, a lawyer in the Chicago office of DLA Piper representing the developer, told neighbors last year.
Crescent Heights told neighbors last year that rents at the first tower would start in the "typical" luxury realm of about $3 per square foot. The city signed off on the multi-phase project last year, and Crescent Heights agreed to donate $100,000 each to Armstrong, Chicago Women's, and Webster parks as part of its agreement.
Designed by New York-based architect Rafael Viñoly, the towers would have a "stepping" gesture he previously said was inspired by Willis Tower.
Though a permit has been issued, the project's timing is still unclear. Jason Buchberg, a Chicago-based Crescent Heights executive, did not return a message. Curbed Chicago first noticed the new building permit Monday morning.
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