Private school operator GEMS World Academy received a full construction permit for its planned 13-story complex for middle- to high school students in Lakeshore East.
The school, which will be located at 355 Upper Wacker Drive, received a $58 million permit, according to Bisnow. The facility is being designed by Chicago-based bKL Architecture. The foundation was laid in February, and the entire project is expected to be completed in late 2019.
GEMS World Academy is a subsidiary of Dubai-based GEMS Education, which runs more than 70 schools worldwide and is the world’s largest operator of K-12 schools. In recent years, GEMS traded lawsuits with Merchants Hospitality over failed plans for a 213,000-square-foot school in New York’s Upper East Side.
The Chicago school, which will have 1,440 students, will include a 500-seat auditorium, a two-story library and a rooftop common area.
The school will be adjacent to Dalian Wanda group’s 98-story Vista Tower, now under construction, and which will be the city’s third-tallest building by the time it’s completed in 2020. [Bisnow] — Alex Nitkin