Development Finally Begins For Tribune East Tower

CIM Group and Golub & Co. are dipping their toes back into the water to test the market for the Tribune East Tower supertall project in Chicago’s River North.

While the project has been dormant for three years since city officials approved the development, which could become Chicago’s second-tallest tower at more than 1,400 feet, CIM recently posted a new bidding opportunity to its website for general contractors, Chicago YIMBY reported.

The solicitation confirms that development of the 1.3 million-square-foot, 120-story proposal for 421 North Michigan Avenue is still being pursued. The real estate firm’s website shows it wants construction to begin in February 2024, and the project completed by 2027.

While the development was originally projected to cost about $700 million at the time it was approved, it’s unknown how much it will cost now, considering the increase in construction costs since then and some changes to the project, such as enlarging its hotel portion and shrinking parking spaces.

With Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in charge of design, Tribune East Tower is expected to stand 1,442 feet tall, rising 102 floors. It will have a decorative glass curtain wall with gold-colored vertical fins, tapering as it peaks. The ritzy structure will comprise 564 residential units, 125 being condominiums and the 439 being rental units.

Alterations to the originally proposed plan from 2020 include increasing the number of hotel rooms in the tower to 250 from 200, and reducing the number of parking spaces from to 426 from 687.

The new tower, if built, would extend Golub and CIM’s streak of investing in the area. In 2016, the two firms partnered on a $240 million redevelopment of Tribune Tower, the former site of the Chicago Tribune’s offices, located next door at 435 North Michigan. Golub CEO Michael Newman sold a luxury condo in the building for $4.7 million last year. Other notable buyers in that building include like Walmart executive Judith McKenna, who purchased a condo on the 20th floor of the tower for $4.9 million last year, as well.

— Quinn Donoghue