World’s Tallest Building OKd in Chicago--to Rise 125 Floors

Having never met a superlative it didn’t like, the Chicago City Council on Friday unanimously approved, without debate, construction of a super-tower that will rise 15 stories higher than the the Sears Tower, currently Chicago’s--and the world’s--tallest building.

The proposed 125-story building is the dream of the Chicago firm Miglin-Beitler Developments, a real estate development company, which still must obtain financing for the building, expected to cost as much as $500 million.

“The City of Big Shoulders will be raising those shoulders a little taller,” Miglin-Beitler President J. Paul Beitler said in a statement.

The 1,950-foot building designed by Cesar Pelli, the architect for the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif., and the World Financial Center in New York City, will be situated in downtown Chicago and will house 12 floors of parking, a health club and 1.2 million square feet of office space.

“This unique project of great significance will further define the impressive silhouette of Chicago’s skyline and make it look fresh again,” Pelli said.

“Our next challenge is to get the financing for the building,” said Mark L. Jarasek, spokesman for Miglin-Beitler. Two Japanese businesses--an insurance company and a construction firm--and an American pension fund adviser have already approached the developers about investing in the project.

Miglin-Beitler hopes to break ground in September of this year and celebrate completion 36 months later in 1993.

In addition to the Sears Tower, downtown Chicago is the site of the AMOCO Building and the John Hancock Center, which rank among the five tallest buildings in the world, along with New York’s World Trade Center and the Empire State Building.

Sears Tower was recently on the auction block but, when its owner, Sears, Roebuck & Co., failed to find a buyer who would pay more than $1 billion for the 110-story building, the retailer chose to refinance the structure.