Chicago’s popular West Loop neighborhood may soon see yet another new highrise join the fray in the form of the long-discussed, cylinder-shaped One South Halsted tower from architects FitzGerland Associates. The project broke cover way back in 2011 and received city approval the following year. After a long period of relative silence, the 492-unit proposal is showing signs of waking from its multi-year slumber and joining other recent Kennedy-flanking projects such as the 33-story Acadia tower and The Parker.

According Department of Planning and Development documentation, the developers requested an amendment to their Planned Development (PD) in June to reduce One South Halsted’s parking from the approved 520 spaces down to a more reasonable number of 376. In the process the tower would also shrink slightly from its original 490 feet to roughly 472 feet. While the request was granted by the city, it did come with a caveat that work would need to begin within 12 months or the plan would revert to its previous specification.

Based on a report of soil testing taking place onsite this week by Chicago Architecture Blog, it is clear that the team behind One South Halsted is keen on not letting their zoning amendment lapse this June. Also, with Chicago’s rental market riding the crest of a boom, there really is no time like the present for developers to dig in.

·1 South Halsted: Drill, Baby, Drill! [Chicago Architecture Blog]

·Green Light for One South Halsted, a Greektown Giant [Curbed Chicago]

·50-Story High-Rise Proposed for West Loop [Curbed Chicago]