Some Are Fighting to Keep the EBONY/Jet Building in Chicago from Being Destroyed by Developers. Downtown Chicago is set to explode with construction. In the next several years, the city that gave birth to the skyscraper will have a new look. A new generation of glitzy skyscrapers will sprout up all over the city, dramatically altering its famous skyline with bold new designs and soaring to greater heights.
In several years, the EBONY/Jet building will be wedged between two fresh skyscrapers. To the north of it will be the 620-foot “Essex on the Park” skyscraper, which officially broke ground on Jan. 19. When completed, the skyscraper overlooking Grant Park and Lake Michigan will have 479 luxury rental apartments. The deal also includes rehabbing and expanding the neighboring Essex Inn Hotel to 271 guest rooms.
Two blocks south of the EBONY/Jet building will be an 86-story glass skyscraper that will resemble a stack of giant ice cubes. Reportedly named the Jahn Tower, it will have 506 units; 308 will be condominiums. There is the 515-foot tower at 1326 S. Michigan and the planned twin skyscrapers on Indiana Ave., which at 76 stories high, will be third tallest building south of the Willis Tower.
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