A giant new skyscraper rivaling Trump Tower in height as Chicago's second-tallest building is planned to rise from the parking lot behind a redeveloped Tribune Tower, which would be gutted and converted into condos. Our exclusive: chicagotribune.com/news/local/bre… 
1/ Envisioned as a hotel and condominium tower sheathed in steel and glass, the new skyscraper would soar to a height of 1,388 feet. That would be a foot shorter than the hotel-condo high-rise that Trump, then a real estate developer and reality TV star, completed in 2009. 
2/ The plans, drawn up for the owners of the Tribune Tower — CIM Group of Los Angeles and Chicago-based Golub & Co. — are expected to be publicly presented to the city by this summer. Golub did not respond to requests for comment. No designs have been publicly released yet.
3/ “It’s gone through quite the evolution, and I think each tweak has improved the proposed design, but I know for a fact they’re not done yet,” Ald. Brendan Reilly said of the designs. “I’ll reserve comment on its design until they send over their best foot forward.” 
4/ The new skyscraper would house 220 hotel rooms and 158 condos. The redeveloped Tribune Tower would include 165 residential units. Tribune Tower also would have retail on the first and second levels wrapping around the current Tribune complex. 
5/ One of Tribune Tower’s most distinctive features — fragments of historic buildings from around the world that are embedded in its ground-level Indiana limestone façade — would remain but could be relocated to different areas of the building. chicagotribune.com/news/ct-tribun…
6/ Current plans contemplate 365 parking spaces for the current Tribune Tower rehab. The new skyscraper would include an additional 500 parking spaces, located on the second through eighth floors. Reilly is pushing to reduce the spaces. 
7/ Reilly, whose ward includes the Loop and River North, has not shown an aversion to tall buildings and noted his approval of the 1,191-foot Vista Tower across the Chicago River from the Tribune site. The height of the proposed skyscraper is a good fit with the site, he said. 
8/ Under Golub’s current proposal, the developer would pay $13.6 million to the city in density bonuses for the skyscraper, another potential political win for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who sets aside the money for projects on the South and West sides. 
9/ Ald. Reilly will require the developer to keep the Tribune’s historic lobby open to the public for certain hours daily, and indicated City Hall supports that. The “important public space" is a frequent stop by tourists and residents touring the city’s architectural gems. 
10/ The fate of another historic feature of the building — Col. McCormick’s baronial 24th-floor office, with dark pine walls, personalized ceiling decoration and a monumental fireplace inscribed with a quotation from the press lord — is uncertain. 
11/ Reilly said Golub doesn't not want McCormick’s office open for tours. He responded by urging the developer to carefully dismantle McCormick’s office and offer to relocate it. Possible new locations: Chicago History Museum or Cantigny, home to McCormick's museum & estate. 
12/ Ald. Reilly also said preservation of the Tribune's historic fourth floor editorial board room, which has played host to countless presidents, governors and mayors, would be subject to the redevelopment negotiations. -- 30 -- 
