Client Diaries: River Point’s Marvelous Landscape Journey with Balanced Environments
River Point

Balanced Enviroments

January 17, 2024

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River Point, originally constructed in 2016, is beautiful, meticulously designed office building in the heart of the West Loop of Chicago, Illinois. Situated at the head of the Chicago River and at the intersection of Chicago’s three prime neighborhoods, River Point overlooks the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Chicago River.

The property looks east across the river at the original Chicago settlement of Wolf Point. The building sits on a total of 2.57 acres and boasts 1 million square feet including the air rights. This incredible building includes the headquarters for Morton Salt, Mead Johnson, Hines (part owner and full developer) and its anchor tenant McDermott Will & Emery. The building boasts 90% commercial and 10% restaurant occupancy. Along with full, 24-hour uniformed security, they utilize keyless entry to ensure the utmost security mixed with functionality.

On the Canal Street side of the building, you will find corporate signage that is always highlighted with seasonal color blooms in differing heights to frame the monuments perfectly. These planter beds are always included in our seasonal color rotations to keep the beds fresh and full of the freshest color, this highlights the greenery and shrub plantings. This gorgeous modern building is rebounding from occupancy decreases during COVID-19 lock downs and work from home trends. The continual landscape upkeep, improvements and planning has vastly increased foot traffic on the public green facing the river. Anywhere from 1500-4000 people report to River Point on a daily basis. The building boasts an attached covered garage of 150 spaces. This location allows for incredible ease of reach to the many forms of public transportation. 65% of the building’s patrons utilize public transportation. As an ADA accessible site, they make sure all points are accessible and all visitors can enjoy the amenities. The soaring, all glass three story lobby opens to a gorgeous and rare one-and-a-half acres of greenery on Riverside Plaza and Riverwalk. This is the largest plot of turf along the Chicago River. From this vantage point, visitors can see the convergence of the two branches of the Chicago River meander toward Lake Michigan. They enjoy a view of the historic drawbridges up and down the river and other surrounding large high-rises on the River. This becomes a perfect location for picture taking, stopping for a rest under the green canopy of mature trees, or admiring the Calatrava sculpture at the center of the property. The park itself contains many seating areas for tenants and visitors alike to enjoy the views in front of their offices. Our client expects the site to always look its best. This site not only caters to what happens inside, but the Hines group actively plans and executes a multitude of events, which, weather permitting, will always occur on the turf.

The focal point of River Point, almost as impressive as the views of the River, is the sculpture created by world renowned Spanish-Swiss sculptor Sergio Calatrava. The vivid red swirl statue, titled Constellation, is the backdrop for thousands of photos a year including many engagement and wedding photos. Calatrava wanted this art piece to essentially ‘grow from the ground up’. It is truly an iconic sculpture added to a building that has changed the Chicago River experience. The park like setting and the giant sculpture creates a sense of true nature with the thousands of vibrant blooming plants, shrubs, and mature trees on the property. The River Point site is also visited by the residents in the surrounding buildings, many of which bring along their furry pets. The mature landscape elements portray a vibrancy and energy akin to the city of Chicago. Gibson’s Italia also resides within the building and patrons enjoy all the views the park has to offer either indoors or on their patio overlooking our manicured lawns and plantings. All of these expectations are achieved through a close partnership and collaboration and extensive communication. River Point has maintained LEED Platinum Certification since 2019 and we work with them to continuously add to their GREEN initiatives enhancing recycling efforts and sustainability.

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Calatrava

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