John Buck Co. won Chicago Plan Commission approval Thursday for its proposed granite and glass West Loop office building, claiming the inside stretch in the race to build Chicago’s first major office tower in a decade.
“The office building market no longer is in the toilet,” said Gery Chico, an attorney representing Buck. “This is the first major tall office building to make it to market.”
Designed by James Goettsch of Chicago’s Lohan Associates, the $350 million 66-story skyscraper will be at 1 N. Wacker Drive, at the corner of West Madison Street.
The Buck project is one of more than a half-dozen plans for big downtown office buildings developers have been marketing to Chicago companies and law firms, but most of the projects still exist only on paper.
The Chicago Title & Trust Co. building, at 171 N. Clark St., completed in 1991, is the most recent office tower built in Chicago.
The 1 N. Wacker project is slated for completion January 2001, said John Iberle, a principal with Buck. Site preparation already has begun, and construction is expected to begin in October, pending financing, Iberle said.
The building will feature a rooftop technology center with satellite dishes, microwave antennae and fiber-optic phone lines, Goettsch said.
