Check Out the West Loop's Latest Massive Office Tower
The West Loop is in the midst of an office boom, but it's a tenant's market as more and more new towers go up in the neighborhood just blocks west of the city's commercial center. Developer Hines' River Point tower at 444 W Lake St is leading the way, with plans to open in late 2016; more than half its 52 stories are already leased.
The stats: River Point will be 52 stories with 1.05M SF of space, a 1.5-acre plaza and riverwalk, three-story lobby, fitness center and high-end restaurant. The building's design has been pre-certified to LEED Gold, and the offices are already at least 55% leased.
River Point will join a field of similarly high-end West Loop office buildings along the river, including the 42-story Citigroup Center at 500 W Madison St, and the historic 111 N Canal St, which JP Morgan Asset Management recently purchased for more than $305M. 111 N Canal's tenants include the in-flight wireless company Gogo, Twitter, Fieldglass, Uber and Potbelly.
Developers are particularly hoping to attract growing tech companies as tenants with open floor plans with few columns, and panoramic, floor-to-ceiling windows, which they say make it ideal for open-plan and perimeter office layouts.
