The development will also have a one-acre landscaped public plaza and the developers will fund DuSable Park, a three-acre park directly east of the site. Shelbourne is contributing $9 million to the estimated $12 million project which will have "commemorative and educational artifacts for the life of John DuSable who founded the city of Chicago," Murphy says. The bike trail in the park will also be reconfigured. The Chicago Park District, which had owned the land, approved Wednesday evening to transfer the property to the city. To allow for the partnership between Shelbourne, the city and the park district to develop the property, Murphy said the park district had to transfer ownership of the property because it does not have the authority to enter into such agreements.The three-million-sf structure's height will surpass the Sears Tower and Toronto's CN Tower, making it the tallest freestanding building in North America and Europe. The tower will be situated at the mouth of the Chicago River, just east of Lakeshore Drive. Pedestrian access to Lake Michigan will be provided via a walkway under Lakeshore to a new DuSable Park.

Earlier plans called for 300 luxury condominium residences ranging from $600,000 to $5 million and a five-star, 20-story hotel. Last month, Murphy said sales prices for the units are not decided upon yet and will be decided on by the third quarter. Company officials had previously pegged the price tag of the building at $1.2 billion. Murphy said he could not disclose project costs but confirmed last month that approximately 30% of the cost will come from Shelbourne with about 70% financed by Anglo-Irish Bank.

Perkins + Will will be the architect of record, with principal Ray Clark heading up the project. Local developer Christopher T. Carley, who introduced the building concept, was taken out of the deal when Kelleher bought the property for $65 million in July.