The developer, Kinzie Development South, LLC, is seeking zoning changes that would let it build an office building 62% larger than currently allowed, while the proposed condominium and hotel portion of the project is 48% larger than allowed. However, Kinzie Development South is earning density bonuses for public parks, underground parking and upper-level setbacks. Existing zoning under a planned development approved in the 1980s allow a 300,000-sf office building, 340-room hotel with 100,000 sf of retail and office space. The project was endorsed by the plan commission.

The office building already is 68% leased, notes Richard Stein, part of the development team. His Mesirow Stein Real Estate Inc. and law firm Jenner & Block will co-anchor the building. Work on the office building is scheduled to begin in September, he adds, while Jones Lang LaSalle continues to raise the more than $300 million needed to construct the building. "We hope to be opening a sales office [for condominiums] in 90 to 120 days on the north lot," Stein says.

Albert Friedman says construction of the hotel, the only part of the project that drew any criticism during the plan commission meeting, will begin in April. The 2.9-acre site is north of a Westin Hotel, and northwest of the Marina City condominium towers, as well as the House of Blues hotel.