The hole at 400 Lake Shore Drive at the site of the failed Chicago Spire project is in the process of being filled.
A 72-story residential building will go up in its place.
"It has been a very, very long time," Don Biernacki, the executive vice president of Related Midwest, quipped. "But when you have a vision for great development, great architecture and great projects that are going to be meaningful to our great city, it takes a while for that to come to fruition."
Related Midwest celebrated the groundbreaking Monday of what will be home to a two-tower residential development on this unique waterfront site, where the Chicago River and Lake Michigan meet.
For Nosa Ehimwenman, president and CEO of BOWA Construction, this site, near where Jean Baptiste Point du Sable first landed in Chicago, means a great deal to him.
"For me as an African American, I got to tell you, it's exciting," Ehimwenman said. "We don’t get opportunities and moments like this to be building and developing high rises in our city. So I'm hoping that we're able to do this and create change for the next generations."
The developer said there will be 635 rental homes, of which 20% of them will be affordable housing.
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The building will have more than 1 million square feet of floor space and three underground garage levels.
"You’ll start to see this building come out of the ground in the next few months," Biernacki added. "We've spent a lot of time down in the hole. We actually pumped about 3 million gallons of water out of that hole. A lot has been happening; a lot is yet to come."
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Construction is expected to be complete in 2027.
