Developer Related Midwest secured more than $500M in financing for the first phase of its two-tower residential development on the former Chicago Spire site.
The opening stage of the project, dubbed 400 Lake Shore, centers on a 72-story, 635-unit apartment building on the northern portion of the site at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, Crain’s Chicago Business reports. It also includes the construction of DuSable Park and the finishing touches on a pedestrian path connecting the Chicago Riverwalk to Lake Michigan.
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Tax-exempt bonds from the Illinois Housing Development Authority are financing the development, according to Crain’s. The bonds were purchased from Wells Fargo and other lenders. Related Midwest and its partners are also putting additional equity into the project, but it is unclear how much they will contribute.
“Because of the lack of construction in the city right now, this will be a great symbol to the city, a crane in a space that you’re going to see it from everywhere and a very large important building getting built in a very important site with a large affordability component to it,” Related Midwest President Curt Bailey told Crain’s.
The project penciled out because 20% of the units will be marketed as affordable housing available to people making between 30% and 50% of area median income, qualifying the project for a tax break under a state law passed in 2021, Bailey told Crain’s.
The developer in 2018 revealed initial plans for the $1B project, which was set to include a hotel and condominiums. It later reversed course to a fully residential proposal. Related Midwest has begun construction on the project and expects to complete the first stage of the development in spring 2027, Bailey told Crain’s.
Over the past decade and a half, the site of the project has been a constant reminder of a failed plan for the 150-story Chicago Spire, which would have been the Western Hemisphere’s tallest tower.
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