The 1 S. Halsted tower will bring 492 new apartments to the West Loop next to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. View Full Caption FitzGerald Associates

WEST LOOP — Years after it was approved, a developer will soon start building a 44-story apartment tower in the West Loop's Greektown neighborhood.

A building permit for the 1 S. Halsted St. tower, planned for a parking lot next to Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro Downtown in Greektown and near the Kennedy Expressway, was issued Friday, according to city documents.

Under the plans, the tower will bring about 492 new apartments to the neighborhood and 375 parking spaces to the site.

Permits issued Friday include foundation and structural work for the tower.

Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) said he does not know when the developer plans to break ground on the $136 million project.

Although introduced in 2011 and approved by City Council in 2012, the project was dormant until soil sampling started at the site in spring 2016, as reported by The Chicago Architecture Blog.

In 2015 and 2016, the developer requested a series of changes to the project, including reducing the number of parking spaces from 520 to 375. Those changes were approved by the city's Department of Planning and Development.

The 1 S. Halsted St. building, alternatively referred to as 727 W. Madison St. in building permits, was designed by FitzGerald Associates Architects and was previously planned at 46 stories.

Armando Chacon, president of the West Central Association, said that the project was approved by City Council after a public meeting at Merit School of Music in the West Loop. Some neighbors expressed concerns, including WCIU operators who worried the new tower could interfere with a broadcast antennae, but there wasn't "outrage."

"There was relatively mildly opposition from the residents," he said.

Chacon said that could be because many West Loop neighbors understand projects east of Halsted "carry a different set of standards" that allow for more height along Halsted. The 33-story apartment building Arkadia Tower, 38-story Skybridge and 29-story apartment tower The Parker also line the corridor.

"There is way too much precedent here," Chacon said.

H/T buildingupchicago.com

A rendering shows what the 1 S. Halsted St. tower will look like. [FitzGerald Associates]

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