On October 11, an application to the city was published by JDL Development to build two skyscrapers in the River North area, just over two miles from Parker. The taller of the two could be the sixth tallest building in Chicago, falling behind the Willis Tower and the Trump International Hotel and Tower, as well as the John Hancock Center, the Aon Center, and 311 South Wacker Drive, and if all goes as planned, the two  buildings together would be called One Chicago Square.

According to “Curbed Chicago,” 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins wants to conduct some experiments to see how the scrapers would affect the sunlight in the area and how the construction would affect the traffic. The shorter of the two buildings is supposed to stand at 583 feet tall and the taller one 1,011 feet, nearly twice the size of the shorter one.

The project would cost $740 million, and the new buildings would provide 850 residential units, boutique offices, a grocery store, event spaces, and a health club.

Jim Letchinger of JDL Development says that the “slenderness of the two buildings will allow lots of light and air to stay in the area.” JDL Development also said that to avoid disruptions on the street, around 50% of the ground floor would be devoted to loading, drop offs, and ramps to easily get to the off street parking. The structure would also support public transportation options and contain a landscaped pool deck that members of the health club would have access to.

The plan for one of the buildings also includes an elevated event space, which would host some of the events and weddings from the Holy Name Cathedral across the street. The developers are hoping that One Chicago Square makes a large impact on the famous Chicago skyline and the River North streetscape.

Travis Chandler, upper school art teacher who teaches an architecture class in the first semester, believes that the context of the buildings is what really matters. “I mean if this is a tower going up in the middle of Tokyo then does it look like the other towers that are in the area?” Chandler said. “Does the neighborhood have a particular style that it’s going after? If it’s in Andersonville, it would have a shorter footprint than in other areas.”

Chandler said that the blueprints weren’t giving him a great idea on what the buildings might look like, except for the fact that they would be kind of boxy. Freshmen Emily Simon and Grace Conrad are excited. “It personally wouldn’t affect me,” Simon said, “but I think that it will make the skyline look cool and would benefit the city.”

“Curbed Chicago” stated that there would be some conflicts. The plan is to build them in the parking lot across the street from the Holy Name Cathedral located on the 730 block of State Street. Construction would cause traffic in an already busy area, which is why Alderman Hopkins would want to look closer at it before jumping into construction.

Current seventh grader Ava Robinson, who lives in the area, is ambivalent. “The traffic of them being built would make it way harder to get to and from school,” Robinson said, “but I think that they would look really cool in the city.”

Some neighbors of the Holy Name Cathedral think that the skyscrapers would take away some of the history of the 143 year old cathedral. “The buildings should not be built because it will add too much traffic and disruption to the city,” freshman Amelia Hoerr said, “and I wouldn’t want that.”

On the other hand, the Director of Capital Assets for the Chicago Archdiocese, Eric Wollen, said, “The design of the buildings would be something that the neighborhood would be proud of.”

AJ Latrice, a journalist for “Curbed Chicago,” thinks that if the project were to get approved, then it would benefit the city too by helping with the city’s tax rolls and temporarily creating 400 construction jobs and even some permanent positions. The Chicago Department of Transportation, the Alderman, and the development team are working on freeing up space on the streets by removing the street parking in the area.

If all goes smoothly JDL hopes to break ground for One Chicago Square in mid to late 2018 and to be done sometime in 2021.