Marina Towers gets preliminary landmark status

CHICAGO — Chicago’s famous Marina Towers, with their corn-cob look, have been granted preliminary landmark status but hurdles still remain for the Chicago River mainstay to receive permanent protection.

Chicago’s landmarks commission granted the status Thursday, but it isn’t clear whether LaSalle Hotel Properties, which purchased hotel and commercial portions of the complex in 2006, will consent to landmark designation, according to the Chicago Tribune. The company didn’t immediately have comment on Friday.

City officials can grant landmark status without owner consent but prefer to have it. The Marina Towers Condo Association, which represents owners of about 900 units in the complex, has said that it is neutral on the issue.

Commission officials say Alderman Brendan Reilly initiated the current push for landmark designation. He previously tried in 2008.

The buildings were designed by Chicago architect Bertrand Goldberg and finished in 1963. President-elect John F. Kennedy addressed the crowd during the project’s November 1960 groundbreaking attended by then-Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

Landmark officials say they expect public hearings on the designation. The Chicago City Council has final determination on the complex’s landmark status.