It's Back to Square One for Loop's Block 37

CHICAGO-After weeks of skating on thin ice, developers of the star-crossed Block 37 in the Loop were told Wednesday the city is looking for someone else to build on the State Street site. Developers reportedly were unable to obtain financing for the hotel component of a $250-million development, and downscaled plans were unacceptable to department of planning and development commissioner Alicia Mazur Berg.

Not only did the revised plan lack the previously promised hotel rooms, a 66-story condominium tower also was missing, leaving only a Lord & Taylor department store connected to other retail space and a rooftop restaurant.

“I think it’s unfortunate this developer could not pull the project together on such a premium site in the city,” Berg’s predecessor, Grubb & Ellis senior vice president Christopher R. Hill, tells GlobeSt.com. “I’m disappointed, but life goes on.”