2K 
Days after the ground was broken for one of Chicago's tallest buildings to be, another highly anticipated development officially began work. Representatives from local developer CMK and Australia's Lendlease joined Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Alderman Danny Solis in celebrating what will become a major riverfront reinvention.
The masterplanned Riverline project will transform a massive swath of undeveloped property bordering the south branch of the Chicago River. Occupying the properties to the north and south of the existing River City complex — the only built component of a previous unfulfilled proposal for the lands — the multi-tower development by architects Perkins+Will is poised to birth an entirely new neighbourhood forged by the principles of open space and urban activation.
A currently unnamed grouping of five towers will be scattered throughout the north half of the site, while an additional three towers and a townhouse complex will rise on the south half. Two residential highrises — Ancora and Current — are expected to be the first completed buildings in the development. The 29-storey Ancora will erupt from a podium containing above-grade parking and townhouses topped by an outdoor amenity space. The 452-unit project will be constructed in unison with the 251-condominium Current, which would stand 18 storeys on the opposing southern half of the site. The first phase will also complete the freestanding townhouse portion of the project and all of its planned public spaces.
The ground breaking puts an end to lingering questions about the future of the site. Like much of Chicago's downtown core, the property was once a rail yard, and following demolition of the passenger train station in 1971, plans for a new residential neighbourhood emerged. Early renditions would have seen skyscraping buildings upwards of 72 storeys high, but as the scheme evolved, the height diminished. Designed by Bertrand Goldberg, who is famously responsible for the Marina City complex, the only vestige of the plan is the S-shaped River City structure.
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