1000M

1000M is a luxury apartment complex in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District portion of Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Loop. Designed by Helmut Jahn and Kara Mann, it is a 73-story, 832-foot (253.6 m) tall tower located at 1000 South Michigan Avenue. The 738 unit building includes a wide array of units from studios, convertibles, and 1 bedroom units all the way up to 4 bedroom penthouses. Construction on 1000M began in December of 2019 but was halted for a time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it opened in June 2024. According to CBS News, the building is the "last creation of the legendary architect" Jahn.

Location

The building is located in what was previously a vacant lot at 1000 South Michigan in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The site borders the 100-foot (30.5 m) Lightner Building at 1006 South Michigan and the 272-foot (82.9 m) Karpen-Standard Oil Building at 910 South Michigan. Located on the edge of Grant Park, the building will have views of the park and Lake Michigan. As part of the "Cultural Mile," the building is located near the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, Harold Washington Library, the Chicago Cultural Center and Magdalena Abakanowicz’s Agora sculpture.

Architecture

The building has been designed by architect Helmut Jahn who is known for his works across the globe including the Messeturm in Frankfurt, CitySpire, the Park Avenue Tower, 50 West Street and 425 Lexington Avenue in New York City.

The building is a joint venture between New York-based JK Equities and New York-based Time Equities, and Oak Capitals. Ethan Coleman, the development manager for Time Equities, and Jordan Karlik, a founder of JK Equities, talked to Crain’s Chicago Business about the design in March 2017. Coleman said the design of the tower "is something that really maximizes the light and views that residents will have." Karlik added of the architect, "Helmut was very passionate" about the exterior design of 1000 South Michigan Avenue.

The tower will be largely composed of glass with metal horizontal spandrels flanking each floor. The tower is capped with a 2 story east facing amenity space including an protected terrace with views toward Lake Michigan. Natural-finished aluminum spandrels, or bands between floors of the building, will create the image of a lightweight building.

Interior design

Kara Mann, of Kara Mann Design, will design the 323 individual residences and nearly 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity space. Mann will also provide residents on the upper floors with the option to have their outdoor spaces staged and decorated. Kitchens will be outfitted with custom cabinetry and Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances; master suites will feature bathrooms with oversized showers and soaking tubs. Mann said she wanted the interiors to have "a purity and lightness." The building will also have a two-story lobby.

Previous building designs

According to Crain's Chicago Business, plans for the building were released in August 2015. Although the historic district zoning has height restrictions of 425 feet (129.5m), on September 23, 2015 the City Clerk of Chicago's website posted that the building is planned to have a rooftop terrace that reaches 1,030 feet (313.9 m) according to Dennis Rodkin of Crain's Chicago Business. Over a month later, Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune stated that the plan was to be for a 1,001-foot (305.1 m) tower. Eventually, the building was redesigned to stand at 832 feet (253.6 m). The plan was approved on April 22, 2016. Instead of the more common setback architectural design, the original building would have had overhangs on its south face with rising cubes that are successively larger that present a "striking, if somewhat precarious, effect" according to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Blair Kamin.

Based on an October 29, 2015 presentation, the planned 506-unit building was to include 358 condominiums and 148 rental apartments between the 100-foot (30.5 m) Lightner Building at 1006 South Michigan and the 272-foot (82.9 m) Karpen-Standard Oil Building at 910 South Michigan on what has been a vacant lot. The early designs for the building included an 85th-floor roof deck for condo residents. The property, which overlooks Grant Park, had been owned by Warren Barr who had plans for a 40-story condominium tower until he lost ownership through foreclosure to First American Bank in a July 2010 proceeding that saw the property sell for $11.3 million. If completed, the building will surpass the 430-foot (131.1 m) Metropolitan Tower at 310 South Michigan as the Historic Michigan Boulevard District's tallest structure. Even after the shorter redesign, the building retained the claim as the tallest building along Michigan Avenue in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District across from Grant Park.

Height

Commission on Chicago Landmarks has jurisdiction over the proposal due to its placement in the Historic District. In February 2016, The Landmark Commission considered formalizing a 900-foot (274.3 m) height restriction in the region of the historic district between 8th and 11th streets. Subsequently, the tower's height was scaled-back to 832 feet (253.6 m) and the building was redesigned to employ the current curving silhouette.

When completed, the building will surpassed the 430 feet (131.1 m) Metropolitan Tower at 310 South Michigan as the Historic Michigan Boulevard District's tallest structure. It will also become the tallest building in the city south of the Willis Tower. Even after the shorter redesign, the building retained the claim as the tallest building along Michigan Avenue in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District across from Grant Park and the 13th tallest building in the City of Chicago.

1000M Showroom

The 1000M Showroom at 1006 S. Michigan Avenue has a scale model of the tower and four model unit vignettes that shows Kara Mann's interior design. Also in the Showroom, a video wall nine feet high and 28 feet wide displays the view as would be seen from whatever unit a potential buyer is considering, thanks to extensive footage shot using helicopters and drones. Construction was temporarily halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It began again in late 2021/early 2022. It officially opened in June 2024.

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Chicago
• List of tallest buildings in the United States

References