CHICAGO | Coast at Lakeshore East | 464 FT / 141 M | 46 FLOORS | COM
 

Work has begun on a 49-story Brininstool, Kerwin & Lynch design at 345 E Wacker Dr. in Lakeshore East (BKL seems to be referring to it as the "Coast at Lakeshore East" while Magellan is sticking with Building A for now). Glass with inset balconies, it looks a lot like its western neighbor, the Swissotel. Can't help but feel a little sorry for the folks living on the north side of the Tides as it's going to obstruct some great views. Seems like its going to be pretty comparable height-wise, too. As a Lakeshore East resident myself who doesn't live in the Tides though, I'm excited to see this project rise.

http://www.bklarch.com/sites/default...jpg?1304111498
http://www.bklarch.com/sites/default...jpg?1304723930
http://www.bklarch.com/sites/default...jpg?1304109991
http://www.bklarch.com/sites/default...jpg?1304109998
http://www.bklarch.com/sites/default...jpg?1304110006

All images and info from BKL directly @ http://www.bklarch.com/housing/coast-lakeshore-east

It begins!

Damn! Chicago's on the rise again! I'm very pleased with the design and the impact it'll have on the neighborhood! :)

In yesterday's Chicago Bisnow newsletter, the reporter spoke with Magellan execs at a large John Buck Co industry event last week, and apparently they too are now referring to the building as the Coast....

whats the height on this one (feet) ??

It's 425 feet.

Isn't this thing already quite under-construction? Judging by the pictures posted in the rundown thread there are already caisson rigs assembled and large piles of what look like caisson drill filings all over the site.

Yeah foundation work has been well underway.

I REALLY like the design of this building. It's simplistic and sleek but still unique. It adds a little variety to the Lake Shore East condo blandness (excluding Aqua of course). I'm excited to see it rise :)

49 floors and only 425'? Floors less than 9' apart (8.6735') in this day an age? Are we sure this information is accurate? As someone who has followed skyscraper construction for over a decade, my gut instinct tells me that the odds of a 425' building with 49 floors being built in the United States hovers right around 0%.....

A. Chicago is know for this, we hold many of the records for "shortest building with X floors". For example Lake Point Tower is 70 floors and only 645' tall and is the shortest building in the world with 70 floors while the Hancock is the shortest building in the world with 100 floors by almost 400'.

B. I fairly certain that a portion of the discrepancy here is that 4 or 5 floors of the total floor count exist in the LSE multi-story street limbo between "At grade" and "below grade". The 425' is from Wacker I believe while the building extends another 50' or so below the street before it actually hits dirt.

C. Don't forget this is a rental where low ceiling heights are the norm.

^ this building isnt really 425 ft...i seen a quote stating its about the same height as the tides which is 498 i believe...they are measurring from wacker i believe giving the 425 figure

A 1/2.
I look at this as a point of pride -- (a) Chicago was so early to the supertall game that these were probably considered generous (or at least pushing the limit financially or engineeringwise), and (b) in most other cities, buildings of 60+ stories are office-only or super luxury, whereas in Chicago today you can have 60-story residentials geared to middle-class and/or young professionals just wanting good urban housing without it having to be something gold plated.

C 1/2.
And not to mention is a rental by Loewenberg/Magellan, one among a certain tier of developers who commonly skimp on residential ceiling heights.

That said ... is this the shortest building (other than B37 or a hospital or something unique like that) to get its own thread in Chicago, ever? May the next boom get underway soon...

Isn't Aqua now the shortest 80+ story building in the world?

Austin has a few new towers that will most likely begin construction this year, Chicago is getting a couple new scrapers. Could we be seeing the beginning of a new boom finally?

So does that little driveway to the west of this new building (between it and Swisshotel) actually become an official street now, or will it remain a service driveway?

I had thought that with the construction of Aqua, a new street was going to be created that connected Columbus with Wacker via an L shaped configuration

From what I've seen the boom in Austin hardly even paused.

In any case Chicago is definitely back in boom mode now. It won't match up to what we just saw, but the demand for housing in Chicago's popular neighborhoods and downtown continues to rise while we are about to enter a 2-3 period of absolutely no new deliveries. That is a formula for the rapid construction of new housing.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for the revival of the spire... One can dream.

not quite a boom by chicago standards, but there's a pulse