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An Office Tower Near Cabrini-Green? It Could Happen

By David Matthews | February 24, 2017 5:51am
 A rendering of a 13-story tower proposed for roughly 863 N. Orleans St.
A rendering of a 13-story tower proposed for roughly 863 N. Orleans St.
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Piekarz Associates

NEAR NORTH SIDE — The latest sign of the dramatic transformation at Cabrini-Green? Developers want to build a new office tower a block away. 

A venture led by Chicago-based BlitzLake Partners filed a zoning application with city officials this week for a new 13-story office tower at 863 N. Orleans St. 

If built, the steel-and-glass tower would occupy a vacant lot and include a rooftop terrace offering skyline views to tenants, according to the developer's application. The plan also calls for 15 indoor parking spaces and 40 spots for bicycles. 


An aerial rendering of the tower [Piekarz Associates]

The tower is a taller version of a six-story building proposed last year on the site. That proposal included a green roof, and the latest also rendering includes a green roof. BlitzLake Partners executives did not return a message seeking comment. 

The last Cabrini-Green public housing high-rise was demolished in 2011, and since then the area roughly bounded by Chicago Avenue, North Avenue, Halsted Street and Sedgwick Street has been repopulated by a few new residential buildings and a large Target store. 

But the proposed office tower is the first aimed at attracting white-collar companies to the area since Cabrini-Green's towers were torn down. The Chicago Housing Authority recently selected a Texas developer to build nearly 500 new mixed-income homes on the site. 

The tower would also include two street-level storefronts, according to the zoning application. BlitzLake Partners, founded in 2009, is currently building a new Target store at Clark and Belmont streets in Lakeview.

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