357 N. Green gains Plan Commission approval

The Chicago Plan Commission has approved the proposed office tower at 357 N. Green. Planned by Onni Group, the vacant site is located at the southeast corner of W. Kinzie St and N. Green St. Complicated by the Kennedy Expressway which runs underground at a diagonal, the tower would rise across the street from Sterling Bay’s 360 N. Green.

With Solomon Cordwell Buenz serving as the architect, the building’s design is a site-specific intervention that reacts to the expressway running through the site. Serving as a gateway to Fulton Market, the tower was rotated 35 degrees to follow the angle of the highway, with the north facade curved in response to the expressway wrapping the site. The massing was then carved with setbacks to create outdoor space and terraces for office tenants totaling over 50,000 square feet. 

Standing 484 feet tall, the building will feature 650,000 square feet of office space on floors 8 through 14 and 16 through 28. Office tenants will have amenities on the 15th floor and rooftop retail on the 29th floor that is hoped to be occupied by a food and beverage retailer. 329 parking spots will occupy 5 floors above the base of the building.

With Confluence collaborating on the landscaping and pedestrian space, N. Halsted St and N. Green St will be linked with a pedestrian paseo that carves through the base of the building. Using a series of steps to accommodate the elevation change, people will be able to walk underneath the building and down the steps to get to a pedestrian plaza along N. Green St. A large terrace will remain at the level of N. Halsted St and provide access to public elevators to make the elevation change accessible. In response to Committee on Design feedback, the steps were reconfigured to create a larger plaza along N. Green St and a concentrated green buffer was added along the Metra tracks.

Retail space will occupy the corner of the building facing the intersection of W. Kinzie St and N. Green St to activate the corner, while the office lobby will be at the middle of the building oriented towards the outdoor plaza facing N. Green St. Vehicular access will be mainly from W. Kinzie St with space for drop-off and surface parking. Access to the building’s parking garage will be from both the W. Kinzie St access point and a curb cut along N. Halsted St.

The developers are seeking to rezone the site from M2-3 to DX-7 before instituting a Planned Development. They will be contributing approximately $4.9 million to the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund to receive an FAR bonus. With approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, the proposal will head to City Hall to be reviewed by the Committee on Zoning and full City Council.

Onni Group was questioned regarding their plan to add more office space during a time where commercial office space is generally struggling with vacancy. A representative from Onni responded that they will be waiting to begin construction until they have secured an anchor tenant, but they have presented to a handful of potential anchor tenants who would take about 70% of the building and negotiations are ongoing. If an agreement is signed, the developer said they would be ready to begin construction at that point.