28-Jul-19 – Curious renderings have been circulated by an embattled New York-based real estate developer of a modified tower project in River North that would incorporate the facades of three 19th century row houses.

The buildings, at 42, 44, and 46 East Superior Street, are currently being considered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks for inclusion in the proposed Near North Side Multiple Property Landmark District.

In 2017, plans by Symmetry Development for a 60-story hotel/condominium on the site were rejected by 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, citing neighborhood opposition to the tower and traffic issues it would create.

(Left) Rendering by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP of The Carillon, inserted into an image by Rob Sall.

When contacted recently about the renderings, a spokesperson for Reilly said he had not seen the images and emphatically denied the alderman has any support for any proposal for the site other than making it part of a landmark district.

“He has not entertained any idea of a 60-story tower for the site,” said the spokesperson.

Symmetry’s Jeffrey Laytin told a federal judge in March he has not been able to come up with the $562,500 he and his partners promised to pay one of the clients of a Chicago-based attorney representing Chinese investors who bankrolled the failed Carillon Tower project.

Laytin did not respond to an invitation to comment on the new renderings.

Ninety investors are currently suing Symmetry in federal court. Each investor provided a minimum of $550,000 but say they have yet to get their money back. They were participating in the EB-5 green card program, which allows foreign investors to become conditional residents through an investment of $500,000 in a commercial project that creates jobs in the United States.

The row houses date to a time when the area was known as McCormickville due to numerous homes in the area being owned by members of the McCormick family. McCormick Harvesting Machine Company was at one time the largest manufacturer of farm equipment in the world.