Recently green-lit Greektown skyscraper wastes little time digging in

Crews are hard at work preparing the foundation of the 492-unit tower known as One South Halsted

By Jay Koziarz Feb 17, 2017, 1:19pm CST

It’s been just over two weeks since the 44-story One South Halsted apartment tower landed a construction permit to begin work in Chicago’s Greektown neighborhood and workers are already taking advantage of our mild winter and drilling the building’s large caisson support system. Flanked by both a Whole Foods and Mariano’s, the building site is just west of downtown’s Kennedy Expressway. The cylinder-shaped skyscraper replaces a parking lot used by the neighboring Crowne Plaza hotel. The lot was closed days after the permit was issued.

One South Halsted will feature 492 rental apartments, 9,500 square feet of ground floor retail, and a 375-stall parking garage to be shared between residents and Crown Plaza guests. The West Loop project comes from FitzGerald Associated Architects and development partners F&F Realty and Fifield Companies. Prior to breaking ground, the team secured a $117.8 million construction loan from the Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks, reports Crain’s.

When completed in late 2018, the 495-foot skyscraper will become Chicago’s tallest building west of the Kennedy. The current holder of that distinction is the 420-foot Skybridge project completed in 2003 just one block to the north. The pair will eventually be joined by a combination condo/hotel tower branded under the Equinox fitness club banner at 725 W. Randolph from developer Related Midwest, helping to create a “canyon effect” along the western edge of the expressway.