River Point Slips Into Something Tight and Shiny

Here, the first pieces of glass appear along Canal Street.

River Point, draped in mystery.

River Point (444 West Lake Street) has been shrouded in mystery from the get-go. We’ve been able to watch the core grow up through the center of the tower, but all the exterior work has been covered, shielding outsiders from peering in.

So it was a delight to wander past River Point last week and see the curtain raised just enough to reveal its latest outfit: glass. Luxurious, curved, blue-sky-reflecting glass. According to crews on scene, installation began Monday the 17th.

It would be understandable if River Point is feeling a tad under-appreciated these days. The future 52-story office tower stares almost directly at Wolf Point West, which just topped out this past week. And to its right, we all know about 150 North Riverside, which has been getting more attention with each piece of steel in its marvelous skeleton. We’ll accept our share of the blame here at The Chicago Architecture Blog. We’ve become quite the drooling fans ourselves, and River Point has suffered the brunt of our neglect.

So let’s all remind ourselves of just what River Point will be when it opens early in 2017:

• 52 Stories Tall on 2.55 Acres
• 730 Feet High
• 1,050,000 of Rentable Square Feet
• 105 Acre Plaza
• 150 Parking Spaces
• A Really Cool Archway Facing the Chicago River
• 560 Linear Feet of New Pre-Certified LEED Gold
• Developer: River Point, LLC
• For realsies: Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge
• Design Architect: Pickard Chilton Architects

Location: 444 West Lake Street, Fulton River District

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from The Chicago Architecture Blog http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2015/08/26/river-point-slips-into-something-tight-and-shiny/