(Image courtesy of OMA and bloomimages.de)

By KERRY SMITH

CHICAGO, Ill. – Construction bids are out for a $207 million, 7-story high-rise in Chicago’s South Loop.

The future home of the Discovery Partners Institute Centre for Education and Research, this mixed-use innovation district development is located on 62 acres of the former rail yards along with Chicago River between the Loop and Chinatown.

Developer Related Midwest is working in partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and The Chicago Housing Authority on a 236,000-square-foot, LEED GOLD-targeted high-rise is the first building in what will be a $7 billion mega-project known as “78 Neighborhood.”

Project partners are the design firms of AE Jacobs (Dallas) and OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture, New York office).

Related Midwest plans to break ground later this year.

Design features of the high-rise include a dramatic, expansive, floor-to-ceiling atrium, a glass dome, office, classroom and lab space plus a rooftop events space.

DPI is currently located in office space along South Wacker Drive.

The state of Illinois contributed $500 million toward the project, which will also include regional innovation district locations statewide.

Related Midwest donated the one-acre DPI portion of the site to DPI.

In addition to the high-rise, phase one of the development also includes 1.5 million square feet of office (within the DPI and via a collection of loft-style structures), 700,000 square feet of residential space (20 percent of which will be designated as affordable housing) and 100,000 square feet of retail/amenities.