Onni Group plans office tower at 357 N. Green

Onni Group has proposed a new office tower for a vacant site at 357 N. Green. Located at the southeast corner of W. Kinzie St and N. Green St, the tower would rise across the street from Sterling Bay’s 360 N. Green. The site is complicated by the Kennedy Expressway which runs underground at a diagonal. 

Set to rise 457 feet, the new tower would stand 29 stories high, producing approximately 676,000 square feet of office space. With the height difference between W. Kinzie St and N. Halsted St, 14,000 square feet of retail space will span the two levels. 5 floors of parking will rise above that to provide 276 car parking spaces. 

With Solomon Cordwell Buenz in charge of the design, the concept began with extruding the site for a simple massing. The massing was split into a tower portion that was rotated 35 degrees to align with the expressway, with a podium that would be built out to the corners of the site except for a public green space at the southwest corner. After that, the tower massing was broken up and outer corners were curved to respond to its context and support increased views and daylight. Higher floors in the tower have been setback to create usable outdoor roof terraces, with further carve-outs added so that every office floor has a terrace. 

With the aforementioned height change between N. Halsted St and W. Kinzie St, the design includes a midblock connection that carves through the podium of the project. Coming from N. Halsted St, a public pedestrian path will traverse the site and lead to a series of stairs and forum seating, culminating in an activated plaza along N. Green St. Two public elevators will provide accessible access from street to street.

With the project set to go before the Committee on Design next week, the development may undergo changes in response to feedback from the committee. With a likely rezoning expected for the project, the development will need approvals from the Chicago Plan Commission, Committee on Zoning, and City Council. No details on potential anchor tenants or a timeline for construction have been shared.