Sterling Bay wants to be the tallest with its proposed project at 2100 N. Southport Ave, designed by Chicago-based Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture. The developer, which still needs City Council approval for the building, aims to break ground early next year.

“Over 150 years after the Great Chicago Fire, and with the help of incredible technologies, Sterling Bay is reintroducing Chicago to large-scale timber construction, setting a new standard for future-forward development in our city,” Sterling Bay CEO Andy Gloor said in a statement. “Mass timber buildings are safe, sustainable, and beautiful, and we are excited to lead Chicago’s real estate community in working with this innovative building material at 2100 N. Southport.”

Developers have proposed and built mass timber buildings around the country: As of June, 1,502 mass timber projects had been in construction or were in the design phase in all 50 states, according to WoodWorks, an industry group. That includes one up the road in Milwaukee, rising 25 stories and 284 feet, the world’s tallest mass timber project so far.

In Illinois, Houston-based Hines has proposed wood-framed office buildings on Goose Island in Chicago and in Oak Brook, but the developer hasn’t broken ground on either project. Chicago-based Perkins & Will also released a conceptual design for an 80-story wood tower on the South Branch of the Chicago River, but there are no plans to build it.  

Hartshorne Plunkard also designed a smaller mass timber structure that was constructed in the Fulton Market District—a five-story, 42,000-square-foot office building at 1040 W. Fulton—but the Sterling Bay building would be four stories taller.

The Chicago Tribune earlier reported the plans for 2100 N. Southport.

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