Location
200 S. Michigan, Chicago Map
Owner
RTKL Associates
Architect
RTKL Associates
RTKL, an international architecture, engineering, and planning firm, has relocated their Chicago office to the Borg-Warner building, one the few modern-style high-rises in the historic Michigan Avenue streetwall. The 25,000 sf architectural studio space is seeking LEED-CI Silver certification with the usual interiors emphasis on high-efficiency lighting and green materials.
Location
6263 N. McCormick, Chicago Map
Owner
G-Free-V LLC
Architect
Alper & Alper Architects
The Balanced Kitchen is the retail location of G-Free-V, a new wholesale and retail foods company specializing in vegan & gluten free products. This first outlet is a renovation of an existing restaurant to include a restaurant, bakery, and retail store and is seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors certification. As a small tenant improvement, many of the green ideas come through in the materials, which represent much of the construction work.
Location
210 S. Clark, Chicago Map
Owner
Interior Construction Group, Inc.
Architect
Gary Lee Partners
ICG, a general contractor specializing in commercial interiors, is relocating their offices to the 13th floor of 210 S. Clark. This relatively small project (8,000 sf) is seeking LEED-CI Gold certification and presents some unusual opportunities because it is actually in the same building as the company's current offices. It's a great demonstration that you don't have to be a huge company (like Exelon) or always go all-out (like Exelon) in order to think green on something as seemingly routine as a commercial office. Our construction photo shows an often-overlooked indoor air quality construction process detail - protection of open ends of ductwork being installed.
Location
1823 Church Street, Evanston Map
Owner
Enterprise Development Foundation
Architect
studioVIM, LLC
The Boocoo Cultural Center and Cafe in Evanston's 5th Ward was built to engage the community at a local level in many different ways. The 5000 square foot facility, previously a gas station, grocer, and dollar store, now contains a music school, recording studio, 125-seat performance space, yoga and fitness classes, and a cafe specializing in organic and free-trade fare. Boocoo, in the words of its director Carolina Pfister, aims to be "a long lasting model of sustainability while catering to human health, intellect, and happiness." The building boasts several traditional green elements such as permeable pavers, and some that are more unique, like insulation made from recycled blue jeans. But as it turns out, the greenest features of this building are rooted in Boocoo's commitment to all things local.
Location
1460 N. Halsted, Chicago Map
Developer
Structured Development
Architect
Valerio Dewalt Train
Blackhawk/Halsted is a new 150,00 sf four story speculative retail and office buiding (two floors of each) with an adjacent seven level parking garage. The project is in the already-crazy North/Halsted/Clbyourn corridor, just north of the new British School and across the street from the soon-to-be-razed (or deconstructed?) New City YMCA. The project is seeking basic LEED certification, and although the green features are fairly basic, it's nice to see another entrant in a fairly empty field - Southgate Market may be the only other green speculative (mass-market) retail project in Chicago.
Location
1328 W. Morse, Chicago Map
Owner
1328 Morse LLC
Architect
Greene & Proppe Design
The Morse Theater is a renovation of a nearly-abandoned 1912 Nickelodeon theater building into a 299-seat music venue and a 99-seat restaurant (The Century Public House). The renovation includes all-new interior structure and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, including addition of a mezzanine bringing the total building area to 18,000 sf. The building has been through a variety of uses and hard times, so it's encouraging to see a local owner take interest in this type of rehab and make it green as well. Renovation projects are notoriously complex and expensive, and this project is no exception - it even includes a difficult expansion of the existing basement.
Location
353 N. Clark Map
Developer
Mesirow Financial
Architect
Lohan Anderson (Design)
Epstein (Architect of Record)
353 N. Clark is a new 45-story, 1.1 million sf speculative office tower anchored by Mesirow Financial and law firm Jenner & Block. The project is LEED for Core and Shell precertified for Silver certification. As I've indicated before, I expect that most major office towers downtown will now earn LEED certification, as evidenced by the growing list of peers to this project.
Location 
28 N. Clark Map
Owner
Flashpoint Academy
Architect
Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
Flashpoint Academy is a new media arts and sciences school occupying 58,000 sf on two floors (plus a small storefront street-level space) in the Burnham Center (aka 111 W. Washington). The two-year school will offer four areas of study: cinema, recording arts, gaming and animation - their new space includes classrooms, computer labs, recording facilities, a directing stage, a screening room, an information commons, a motion-capture studio, and student lounges to support these studies. The project is seeking LEED-CI Silver certification, and similar to the Spertus Institute, demonstrates that a sleek, contemporary design can still be green - you don't have to live and work in a hobbit hole to be green.
Location
3255 W. Altgeld Map
Owner
Christopher House
Architect
Wheeler Kearns Architects
Location
239 E. Randolph Map
Owner
City of Chicago
Architect
Muller & Muller
The Millennium Park Bike Station was completed in 2003, and although it is not LEED certified, it does warrant brief coverage as a green project. This is mostly because of the inherently green use of the 3-story building, as one of the nation's only centers dedicated to bicycle commuting and recreation. The building includes storage space for 300 bikes, showers, toilets, lockers, bike rentals, a bike repair station, a small summer time cafe, and houses the Chicago Lake Front Bike Police headquarters. Note that naming rights have finally been sold, so the official name is McDonald's Cycle Center (which this author considers an oxymoron).
Location
2125 W. North Map
Owner
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Architect
Jonathan Boyer
(Now of Farr Associates)
The Center for Neighborhood Technology's (CNT) 15,000 sf renovation of their Wicker Park home in a former weaving factory was the second LEED Platinum certified building in Chicago (CCGT was the first). Having received its certification in 2005 and being completed more than a year prior to that, it is long overdue for coverage on GreenBean. CNT's mission is very much to have others learn from their space - for more information please visit their website or stop by the building for a tour.
Location
115 W. Chicago Map
Owner
Access Living
Architect
LCM Architects
Access Living has moved into their new 4-story, 50,000 sf headquarters housing open plan and private offices and meeting rooms. As a non-profit providing support and services to the disabled, it's to be expected that their headquarters is a model of universal design. That the project is seeking LEED Silver certification is icing on the cake, and leads to some interesting parallels between these rapidly growing movements.
Chicago now has three LEED Platinum projects, which we believe is the most of any municipality in the nation. Added to the long-complete LEED-NC Platinum Chicago Center for Green Technology and Center for Neighborhood Technology (which we'll cover soon) is the new LEED-CI Platinum Exelon Headquarters, which we previously covered here. Exelon has a press release on the certification here. Congratulations to the entire project team!
Location
233 N. Michigan Map
Owner
Hannah's Bretzel
Architect
UrbanLab
Photo courtesy Michelle Litvin
Hannah's Bretzel, the outrageously popular organic lunch spot, has opened a second location in the Illinois Center (don't confuse this with the State of IL building, aka Thompson Center). This time, the 1,750 sf space is organic as well, seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors certification. As a frequent customer of the original location (down the street from my office), I'll admit an undue bias on this one.
Location
339 E. Chicago Map
Owner
Northwestern University
Architect
SmithGroup
Location
10 S. Dearborn Map
Owner
Exelon Corporation
Architect
Interior Space International
Location
7200 S. Ingleside Map
Owner
South Shore Drill Team
Architect
John Ronan
Location
35 E. Wacker Map
Owner
AIA Chicago
Design Architects
Daimian Hines
Andrew M. Senderak
Natalie Banaszak
Architect of Record
HOK
The Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects is moving from their current home at the Merchandise Mart to a new office in the historic Jeweler's Building, also home to Helmut Jahn's office. They are seeking LEED for Commercial Interiors certification for this small interior build-out. The chapter held a design competition for young architects which was won by the folks listed above, who completed the project design with the assistance of HOK.
Location
53 W. Jackson Map
Owner
Farr Associates
Architect
Farr Associates
Farr's 3,200 square foot office space in the historic Monadnock Building is another example of historic preservation and green design working together. The space was a LEED for Commercial Interiors pilot project and is currently applying for the final certification.
Location
6034 N. Broadway Map
Owner
True Nature Foods
Architect
Echo Studio
True Nature Foods, a community-oriented organic foods store has installed a 1,400 sf green roof on top of their building, a former auto shop. This modest project would be similar to many others in Chicago if it weren't for the fact that this roof is to be food-producing - plants grown on the roof will eventually be sold alongside the store's other produce. The roof was made possible through the efforts of Urban Habitat Chicago, a start-up nonprofit interested in experimental projects.
Location
3600 W. Fullerton Map
Owner
Infant Welfare Society of Chicago
Architect
SMNG-A Architects
Photo courtesy Leslie Schwartz Photography
The Infant Welfare Society is a 3-story, 39,000 sf medical office building housing a pediatric and women's health clinic and a pediatric dental clinic serving uninsured and underserved women and children. The project is an adaptive reuse of a former bank building most recently used as a YMCA. The building opened in April 2005, when the organization relocated from its former Lincoln Park location - the new Logan Square location is much closer to the population the clinic serves. The project has earned a LEED Certified rating and SMNG-A won a Driehaus Foundation award for the project.
Location
1101 S. Canal Map
Owner
Whole Foods Market Group, Inc.
Architect
Heights Venture Architects, LLP
The South Loop Whole Foods Market is a 53,000 sf organic foods grocery store located within the new Southgate Market development. This will be Whole Foods' largest store in Chicago and is seeking a Certified rating under LEED for Commercial Interiors. There are a handful of other grocery stores in the U.S. that have pursued LEED certification (including Whole Foods in Sarasota, Florida and Austin, Texas), and consequently the design team has invested significant effort in exploring the relationship between LEED and food stores.
Location.
2900 W. Ferdinand Map
Owner
Christy Webber Landscapes
Here's a brief update on the latest component in Christy Webber's Greenworks project. A 67' tower is being constructed within the on-site detention pond to house two Aerotecture wind turbines with a total electrical output of 2 kW. The simple but interesting structure is constructed entirely from steel tubes and will be a nice landmark for the 'eco-industrial park'. The Aerotecture product has now been installed on the Near North SRO and won one of Mayor Daley's Greenworks Awards last night, so they're receiving more and more attention. The tower structural design is by Drucker Zajdel Structural Engineers.
Location
1101 S. Canal Map
Owner
JPS Interests
Architect
Eckenhoff Saunders Architects
Southgate Market is a five-story 'mall' housing several big-box type retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Office Depot, and Linens and Things. The project is seeking a LEED for Core and Shell Certified rating. The developer has publicly questioned the value of the certification, so hopefully his experience on this project will be positive and lead to other green (and LEED) projects.
Location
1458 S. Canal Map
Owner
Pacific Garden Mission
Architect
Tigerman McCurry Architects
Image produced by Built Light
Pacific Garden Mission is a 3-story, 156,000 sf rescue mission serving homeless men and women. The new building at 14th Place and Canal is a replacement (not without controversy) for the organization's two existing locations that serve men and women separately, including the location at 646 S. State with the iconic sign (which is planned to be relocated). The new facility will house nearly 1,000 beds, serve 180,000 meals a month, and include gymnasiums, classrooms, library spaces, and all of the food and laundry services required to support such a massive operation.
Location
3440 S. Dearborn Map
Owner
Wexford Equities
Architect
Cannon Design
Technology Business Center is a 138,000 sf core and shell laboratory building and one of the first pieces of the University Technology Park at IIT. The building was formerly the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chemistry Research Building and was purchased by a private company for redevelopment. Rehabilitation work on the original 1959 structure includes installation of a new atrium, exterior wall and window renovations, and new MEP services to accommodate future tenants. The tenant spaces may be built out as simple offices or wet or dry laboratories. The project is seeking a LEED Certified rating under LEED for Core and Shell.
Location
300 N. LaSalle Map
Owner
Hines
Architect
Pickard Chilton (Design)
Kendall/Heaton Associates (Architect of Record)
300 N. LaSalle is a 60-story, 1.3 million square foot office tower with 3 levels of underground parking and street and river level restaurant space. The project has earned LEED Gold pre-certification under the LEED for Core and Shell program. Construction began in July 2006 and is scheduled for completion in 2009.
Essentially all of the green features found in One South Dearborn, Hines' first LEED project in Chicago, are included here and need not be reiterated. One major, but not ground-breaking, addition is a green roof.
Location
4000 W. Lake Map
Owner
Bethel New Life
Architect
Farr Associates
Image ©Farr Associates | Architecture | Planning | Preservation, Chicago, IL
Bethel Center is 23,000 sf, 2-story commercial center comprised of storefront retail spaces, a daycare center, an employment center, and a community computer lab. The building has a direct connection to the adjacent Lake & Pulaski CTA Green Line stop via a bridge. The project, which is seeking LEED Gold certification, was completed in May 2005 and received a nice review from Blair Kamin. The lead designer was former Farr principal Kevin Pierce.
Location
111 S. Wacker Map
Developer
The John Buck Company
Architect
Goettsch Partners
111 S. Wacker is a 53-story, 1.46 million sf speculative office tower completed in 2005 and was the first building ever to receive LEED for Core and Shell Gold certification. The project has won several awards and been the subject of varied media coverage. The building was sold earlier this year to a German investment fund, reportedly for a Chicago record-breaking $400/sf. Although the green building community would like to tout the building's greenness as contributing to this sales prices, Buck has stated they do not believe this is the case. Rather, the developer sees LEED certification here as a test case for future projects.
Location
555 W. Harrison Map
Owner
Cook County, IL
Architect
Campbell Tiu Campbell
(Architect of Record)
Booth Hansen (Design)
Photo: Mark Ballogg
The Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse is a 4-story, 169,000 sf building housing 10 courtrooms, social services, childcare facilities, and public agency office space. The building opened in October 2005 and is seeking LEED Silver certification. It is a replacement for the previous courthouse building at 13th and Michigan with woefully inadequate facilities. The building is the first constructed under Cook County's ordinance requiring LEED certification for all new county-owned buildings and won the 2006 Chicago Building Congress Merit Award for Rehab Construction.
Continue reading "Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse" »
Location
3656 N. Halsted Map
Owner
Center on Halsted
Architect
Gensler
Image courtesy of ImageFiciton
Center on Halsted is a 3-story, 175,000 sf community center serving Chicago's LGBT community with offices and meeting space, a gymnasium, and a small performance space. A Whole Foods supermarket is on the first floor and there are two levels of underground parking. Construction began in summer of 2005 and is scheduled for completion in late 2007. The project is seeking LEED Silver certificatiion.
Location
457 N. Sacramento Map
Owner
Christy Webber Landscapes
Architect
Farr Associates
Image ©Farr Associates | Architecture | Planning | Preservation, Chicago, IL
Greenworks is a new 18,000 sf 1-story office and industrial building for Christy Webber, one of Chicago's leading landscape contractors. In addition to front-office space, the building includes tool maintenance and storage areas, a rooftop greenhouse, and outdoor truck and landscape storage areas. Construction began in the fall of 2005. The project is seeking LEED Gold certification and will be featured in the MCA's companion to the visiting Massive Change exhibition.
Location
1 S. Dearborn Map
Owner
Hines
Architect
Richard Keating (Design)
DeStefano + Partners (Architect of Record)
One South Dearborn is a 40-story, 820,000 sf office tower that has earned LEED for Core and Shell Silver certification. The building was completed in late 2005 and like any new loop high-rise has been extensively reviewed and discussed (e.g. general information here, Blair Kamin's review here {fee}, and construction discussion here).
Location
6501 N. Kenmore Map
Owner
Loyola University Chicago
Architect
Solomon Cordwell Buenz
The Loyola Information Commons is a 4-story, 67,000 sf 'library without books'. This is probably the most cutting-edge commercial green project currently underway in Chicago, because it seeks to integrate the architecture and engineering systems in a manner only widely seen in Europe. This is surely partly due to the German firm Transsolar's role as indoor climate consultant. The project is seeking LEED Silver certification.
Location
610 S Michigan Map
Owner
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Architect
Krueck + Sexton Architects
The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies is a 10-story, 155,000 sf mixed-use building located in the landmark South Michigan Avenue streetwall. This project doesn't boldly announce its green qualities to the world, but rather meets many competing and complex demands of the site, client, program, and an innovative design. I like that this shows that not all green projects have to have a primary focus on being green. The building is a replacement for the institute's current building, which is adjacent to the new site. The institute has more detailed information on the project here. The project has received a fair amount of publicity, including Blair Kamin's article on approval of the design.
