Optima II Adds Touch of Glass to Streeterville

Don’t feel bad for this lonely pane. There’s more cladding installed to its left.

Add a partial row of glass curtain to the list of achievements at Part II of the Optima Chicago Center at 220 East Illinois Street in Streeterville. Optima’s own construction crews have been busy on this site since they started pushing dirt around way back in 2014.

The Optima II project has a fun firehose to share with you:

• Developer – Optima
• Architect – David Hovey
• Architecture firm – Optima
• General Contractor – Optima
• Sales and Leasing – Optima
• Property Manager – Optima
• 54 stories
• 381 rental units

Playing in the dirt back in December of 2014.

This property has an interesting permit history. All the way back in August of 2014, the City of Chicago issued a New Construction permit for caisson work on a 54-story, 381-unit tower. Then, on December 30, 2014, a tower crane permit was issued.

-Then-

On June 17, 2015, a brand-spankin’ new foundation permit was issued, but this time for a 55-story, 498-unit tower. And the following day, another tower crane permit came along.

-Then-

On August 18, 2015, a “superstructure only” permit was issued by the city, this time reverting back to the 54-story, 381-unit set-up. The final, ultimate permit (if you don’t count the second tower-crane permit, issued February 1 of this year), “FULL BUILDING REVIEW FOR A PROPOSED 54 STORY 381 UNIT BUILDING – 220 EAST ILLINOIS” was issued November 11, 2015.

Confusing? A little. How about we look at some construction photos, and then agree to count the floors and units once Optima II is open for business.

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from Chicago Architecture http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2016/04/11/optima-ii-adds-touch-of-glass-to-streeterville/