1010 South Wells

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

1010 South Wells anchors the South Branch of the Chicago River, bringing 386 new residential units, resident amenities, and a public riverwalk to the South Loop.

Location

Chicago, Illinois

Client

CMK Companies

Expertise

Residential Mixed Use & Retail Centers Cities & Urban Design

Opportunity

An underused riverfront site offered a chance to bring new housing and activity to a rapidly changing edge of the South Loop.

Riverline is a long-envisioned redevelopment that reconnects an underused stretch of the Chicago River’s South Branch with the South Loop through housing, a riverwalk, and open space. As the first building planned for Riverline, 1010 South Wells helps turn that vision into reality. CMK asked Gensler to create a signature residential tower that responds to its waterfront setting while strengthening connections to the surrounding community. The design pairs a welcoming street presence with an accessible riverfront and a stronger relationship to the landscape.

Why This Matters

01
A Fresh Riverfront Vision
A new vision for the site helped unlock the first phase of an eight-acre master plan and establish a foundation for the buildings that follow.
02
Right Sized for the Market
A shift from the original condominium scheme to 386 market-rate apartments better matched current demand and helped move a delayed development closer to construction.
03
Opening the River’s Edge
An underused site along the South Branch offered an opportunity to bring people closer to the water and extend public space into the South Loop.

FPO Quote

Solution

A faceted tower echoes the river’s movement, cantilevering over a public podium to carry the waterfront experience from skyline to street.

The river became the project’s organizing idea. A jagged tower footprint and glass-and-aluminum window wall catch daylight like the rippling surface below, while a three-story podium follows the riverwalk and supports the cantilevered tower. At street level, a fully glazed lobby opens to a landscaped entry plaza, creating a more welcoming arrival. Inside, glass, river rock, warm wood, and layered metal ceilings translate the movement and calm of water into the resident amenity spaces throughout.

From brief to build: how a long-stalled riverfront site became a market-ready residential anchor through studies of massing, views, public space, and material.

After nearly a decade without development, Gensler tested how the project could respond to the market while establishing a strong connection to the river. Massing studies tested how the tower could cantilever over a public podium, opening the ground plane to a new riverwalk. The team refined the tower’s footprint and façade to balance views, daylight, constructability, and market considerations, while coordinating the residential program, public spaces, and amenities into a cohesive experience.

Testing Tower Expression

Iterative façade studies balanced views, daylight, constructability, and market appeal while shaping the tower’s identity.

Impact

1010 South Wells turns a vacant site into Riverline’s first completed building, bringing new housing and public space to the South Branch waterfront.

Located within a rapidly evolving South Loop, Riverline joins a wave of major investment that is reshaping Chicago’s South Branch corridor.

What Changed Because of This

01
New Riverfront Homes
The tower adds 386 market-rate apartments to a fast-growing neighborhood, expanding housing choice directly on the water in the South Loop.
02
More Accessible Waterfront
A new riverwalk segment, public plaza, and ground-floor retail bring activity to the water’s edge and create a more connected public realm.
03
Launching a Riverfront Neighborhood
Riverline is adjacent to The 78, a 62-acre, mixed-use neighborhood home to the Chicago Fire’s new stadium and one of Chicago’s most active growth corridors.

We took inspiration from the river’s light, movement, and calm to reconnect residents, the public realm, and the water.

Recognition

01

Urbanize Chicago

Riverline’s first building breaks ground, featuring the Gensler-designed tower’s glass façade and riverfront setting along the Chicago River.

02

Chicago Yimby

The Gensler-designed Riverline development rises above street level as construction advances on 1010 South Wells’ three-story podium.

03

The Real Deal

CMK’s Riverline master plan advances with new financing milestones, spotlighting Gensler’s design of the South Wells towers along the Chicago River.

Team

Project Leadership

[FPO] Aleksandar (Sasha) Zeljic

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Sean O’Gorman

Sean is a Global Residential Practice Area Leader and Residential Leader for the firm’s North Central region, based in Gensler’s Chicago office.

Lori Mukoyama

Lori is a Principal and Global Hospitality Leader based in Chicago, with more than 25 years of experience creating experience-driven environments across hotel, restaurant, retail, and workplace sectors in the U.S. and around the world.

[FPO] Georgi Todorov

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FAQ

01

What is Riverline and how does 1010 South Wells fit in?

Riverline is CMK’s multi-phase riverfront redevelopment in the South Loop. 1010 South Wells is its first completed building and establishes the foundation for the phases that follow.

02

What inspired the tower’s distinctive form?

The design takes the Chicago River as its concept — its jagged, faceted glass façade catches light like the reflective, rippling surface of the water below.

03

How does the project engage the river and the public?

A new riverwalk, public plaza, and ground-floor retail bring residents and neighbors closer to the water, while the landscaped entry creates a welcoming connection to Wells and Taylor.

04

How large is the building?

The tower rises 22 stories and about 227 feet, with 386 apartments, roughly 2,900 square feet of ground-floor retail, and 182 parking spaces.

05

What amenities does it offer?

Residents enjoy a riverfront lobby, coworking and business center, fitness studio, pools and outdoor amenity decks, a rooftop party room, plus recreation like a golf simulator, pickleball, and a dog spa.

06

Is more of Riverline planned?

Yes. Gensler-designed towers at 910 and 810 South Wells are planned as the next phases, continuing the multi-phase build-out of the riverfront.

Related Work

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The 78

The vision for Chicago’s 78th neighborhood reimagines 62 acres of vacant riverfront as a new mixed-use neighborhood shaped by public space, recreation, and community.

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McDonald’s Park Chicago FC Stadium

McDonald’s Park amplifies the fan experience and serves as the cornerstone of the city’s newest mixed-use district, The 78.

Related Expertise

Residential Mixed Use & Retail Centers Cities & Urban Design

1010 South Wells anchors the South Branch of the Chicago River, bringing 386 new residential units, resident amenities, and a public riverwalk to the South Loop.

An underused riverfront site offered a chance to bring new housing and activity to a rapidly changing edge of the South Loop.

Why This Matters

A faceted tower echoes the river’s movement, cantilevering over a public podium to carry the waterfront experience from skyline to street.

From brief to build: how a long-stalled riverfront site became a market-ready residential anchor through studies of massing, views, public space, and material.

1010 South Wells turns a vacant site into Riverline’s first completed building, bringing new housing and public space to the South Branch waterfront.

What Changed Because of This