New Wolf Point renderings View Full Caption

RIVER NORTH — The second of three skyscrapers planned for Wolf Point will break ground early next year — and it's got a new look.

Wolf Point East, the second high-rise coming to the $1 billion mega-development at the confluence of the north and south branches the Chicago River near the Merchandise Mart, will rise 66 stories and include 707 luxury apartments when it opens in 2019, one of its developers announced Thursday.

The announcement follows the opening of Wolf Point West, a 46-story apartment tower that opened in January. Construction of the new tower is expected to begin in early 2017.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity once again build in such a great city,” Mike Stotz, president of the AFL-CIO Investment Trust Corporation, one of the Wolf Point project's developers, said in a statement. "Wolf Point East will not only be another beautiful addition to Chicago’s skyline, but it shows what can be done when labor invests in itself.”

The $360 million Wolf Point East tower also has a new design that differs slightly from renderings released last year. New renderings of the tower show a more rigid, angular design than a curvier drawing shown last year.

The tower designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects will include 40,000 square feet of amenities and street-level retail, the building trust said.

At 707 units, the tower would be among the largest apartment buildings in the city, trailing such projects as Presidential Towers in the West Loop (2,346), McClurg Court in Streeterville (1,075), Alta at K Station in River West (848) and One Superior Place in River North (809), said Ron DeVries, a vice president at Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago real estate consultant.

RELATED: Wolf Point's Latest Renderings Show 'Refined' Towers, Spire

The AFL-CIO is teaming up with Houston developer Hines Interests and Kennedy family scion Christopher G. Kennedy on the Wolf Point project, which received city approval in 2013. Construction of Wolf Point East will precede the development's tallest tower, a 950-foot skyscraper planned for the point's southern end.

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