WEST LOOP — A developer's plan to build nearly 600 apartments at the former H2O Plus site was approved by Plan Commission Thursday, clearing a major hurdle for the development in the booming West Loop.
With two buildings that each top out at 17 stories, the project by The John Buck Co. has 586 luxury apartments at the block-long H2O site bound by Madison, Green, Monroe and Peoria streets. The project will next be considered by the city's Committee on Zoning and the full City Council.
The $100 million-plus luxury rental project, built in two 197-foot-tall towers at 845 W. Madison St., would be a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and duplexes. Plans call for 293 parking spots, 10,000 square feet of retail, a private amenity deck, pool and an art wall on Green Street to be developed on the two-acre site.
Of the 586 planned apartments on site, 59 will be affordable housing units, according the West Central Association. 
A site plan shows what the 845 W. Madison project could look like. [DNAinfo]
A rendering shows what the 845 W. Madison project could look like. [DNAinfo]
The two towers will be built atop a two-story parking podium — a tower at the northwest corner of the site and at the southeast tower that would range from 6-16 stories. About 13 duplexes, would line the site's southwest corner near Mary Bartelme Park, according to renderings.
Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) told neighbors earlier this year that he was likely to support the 845 W. Madison plan.
RELATED: H2O Apartment Plan Likely To Get Burnett OK, But Height Of Towers Irks Some
A rendering from February 2017 shows what the northwest corner of the H2O redevelopment could look like. [GREC Architects]
Under previous plans, the developer aimed to build 627 apartments at the site.
As part of the project, The John Buck Co. will pay $2.31 million into the city's Neighborhood Opportunity Fund program, which allows developers to build bigger and taller projects in an expanded downtown area that includes much of the West Loop if they pay into a fund. The program aims to generate millions to rebuild blighted neighborhoods on the city's West and South sides.
