Building Facts
Originally compiled in 2012 at the request of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and continuously updated by MarinaCity.org.
Core Specifications
- Official Name
- Marina City
- Other Names
- Marina Towers
- Status
- Completed (Official City of Chicago Landmark)
- Location
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Street Addresses
- 300–350 N State St, 315–339 N Dearborn St
- Building Function
- Mixed-use (Residential and Commercial)
- Structural Material
- Cast-in-place reinforced concrete
- Year Proposed
- 1959
- Construction Began
- 1960
- Construction Ended
- 1968
- Major Alteration
- 1996
- Architectural Top
- 588 ft (179.22 m) from Chicago River to penthouse top
- Observatory Height
- 543 ft (165.51 m)
- Top Occupied Floor
- ∼534.5 ft (162.92 m)
Height Calculation Methodology:
Based on known elevations of Floor 20 (194.5 ft) and the Observation Deck (543.0 ft), the 348.5 ft delta across 41 floors yields 8.5 ft per floor. 40 residential floors × 8.5 ft + 194.5 ft = 534.5 ft (top occupied floor).
Vertical Anatomy & Levels
Below Ground
Marina Level: 1 floor below grade (17 ft in height) providing covered slips and direct Chicago River access.
Floors 1–2
Street & Plaza Levels: Floor 1 is lower street level (accessed via stairs from State and Dearborn). Floor 2 is bridge-level plaza, serving as the commercial core and base of each parking ramp.
Floors 3–19
Helical Parking Ramps: 17 continuous spiraling parking levels (∼900 total spaces complex-wide).
Floor 20
Service & Amenities: Laundry, tenant storage, meeting room (East Tower), and resident fitness center (West Tower).
Floors 21–60
Residential Condominiums: 40 residential floors per tower housing 896 total residences (336 studios, 67 1-bedrooms, and 45 2-bedrooms per tower).
Floors 61–64
Rooftop & Penthouse: Floor 61 observation deck surmounted by a three-story mechanical penthouse (Floors 62–64). Total 64 floors above ground.
Floor Areas, Capacity & Elevators
Gross Floor Areas
- Each Tower: ∼772,687 sq. ft.
- Commercial Platform: 300,000 sq. ft.
- Office / Hotel Building: 280,000 sq. ft.
- Theater Building: 100,000 sq. ft.
Complex Capacities
- Residential Units: 896 apartments
- Hotel Rooms: 354 guest rooms
- Parking Capacity: ∼900 spaces (1,152 maximum designed)
- Tower Elevator Speed: ∼2 floors/second (West Tower freight runs 61 to 1 in 33 seconds)
Elevator Inventory (14 Total): 5 per residential tower (10 total); 5 in Hotel Chicago office structure; 1 in House of Blues; 1 in Smith & Wollensky; and 1 in the plaza-level glass-domed vertical transportation center.
Development & Ownership
- Original Owner
- Building Service Employees International Union (now SEIU)
- Current Ownership
- Commercial property: Sperry Equities (Irvine, CA); Theater: Live Nation Entertainment; Condominiums: individually owned by ∼700 residents.
- Developer
- Marina City Building Corporation
- Design Architect
- Bertrand Goldberg, Bertrand Goldberg Associates (Ben Honda, Richard Binfield, Joe Burnett, Louis Rocah, Al Goers, Ed Center)
- Structural Engineers
- Bertrand Goldberg Associates; Severud Associates (Frank Kornacker, Bert Weinberg, Gene Yamamoto)
- General Contractor
- James McHugh Construction Company (Clarence Ekstrom, Project Manager)
- Consultants
- Dr. Ralph B. Peck (Foundations); Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers; Case Foundation Company (Caissons); Alfred Caldwell (Landscape Architect)
Primary Material Suppliers & Trades
- Ready-Mixed Concrete: Material Service
- Reinforcing Steel: Ryerson
- Electric Elevators: Otis Elevator Company
- Hydraulic Elevators: Gallagher & Speck Inc.
- Electrical Contractors: Fischbach, Moore & Morrissey; Gerson Electric
- Electrical Equipment: General Electric Company
- General Trades: Brighton Construction Co.
- Heating & Refrigeration: Economy Plumbing & Heating; National Heat & Power
- Plumbing & Fire Protection: Thos. H. Litvin Plumbing Company
- Ventilation: Climatemp Inc.; H.S. Kaiser Company
- Seawall Demolition: Precision Blasting