CHICAGO | General Developments

[Rizzo]

For the first time in 2.5 years, the lights turned on in the lower part of the IBM building. Getting ready for the hotel conversion? I remember seeing those nice renderings last week.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6224/6345970326_4db35d98c5_b.jpg

[denizen467]

State And Jackson

Looks like this old classic will be rehabbed !


Just a block up there is a similarly major renovation going on -- a low-rise in between the Palmer House and the district cooling plant. Per Google Street View, it previously had Bakers Shoes in the base and basically windowless top floors. Now the facades have been completely ripped off. What is this building and what are they doing to it?


Edit: Unhappy to just discover this Feb 2011 article by Kamin:
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2011/02/making-state-street-timeless-and-meaningless-planned-rehab-of-1940s-retail-gem-symbolizes-a-problem-.html

[Mr Downtown]

Thor Equities, owner of the Palmer House, also owns the Baker Shoes building. They are renovating it for an unknown retail tenant. (http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2011/02/let-the-blog-reader-beware.html)

[EarlyBuyer]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-first-ads-go-up-on-chicago-river-bridge-houses-20111114,0,6386178.story


This is god awful....and BofA just adds acid to the wound

Oh no! So sad!

[denizen467]

^ It is so bad I'll bet they pull them after the 30-day period.

[J_M_Tungsten]

I really hope so, but why would they do that? Public opinion?

[FlashingLights]

Rahm really screwed up on the BofA signs. Along with his destruction of landmark commission he really hasn't been that pro architecture at all.

I am so glad to see 330 N Wabash getting new life into it. The base has been dead the last few years, its one of my favorite buildings in Chicago and competes only with Hancock for me.

[untitledreality]

God dammit. The greatest thing about the river corridor is how it reflects our civic awesomeness. There's no corporate sponsorship and no effing advertising.

Agreed. If this spreads it might even become more offensive than the "freegreencans" spread every 50 feet along the lakeshore trail. Selling off advertising/naming rights to the public domain, no matter where or what, is just a slap in the face to the taxpayers.

[harryc]

Thor Equities, owner of the Palmer House, also owns the Baker Shoes building. They are renovating it for an unknown retail tenant. (http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2011/02/let-the-blog-reader-beware.html)

From Sept 27

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sd-ic9app9c/TsJQsDiXarI/AAAAAAABoes/8R6_3kVn6gg/s800/P1060498.JPG
(n.b. Iornwork on Left is from new Subway sta.)

If it uses I-Beams is it a landmark ?
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-D7DQ8XbTj28/TsJQtYLCSeI/AAAAAAABoeY/k_UVtHJTRlo/s720/P1060501.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V1dgcHEAnGA/TsJQumeYrdI/AAAAAAABoec/DDHig6mGvUI/s800/P1060508.JPG

The Older building next door - sandwiched between this and the Palmer House back in ?
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r7VqGx6gpCw/TsJQv8co3SI/AAAAAAABoeo/pyNreC5ns3w/s720/P1060515.JPG

[spyguy]

^I thought that Baker was coming back along with a Mario Tricoci university?

The Greektown Museum looks really good. So much better than the vacant lot that sat there for years.
---

3600 N Halsted conversion and new construction - affordable LGTB senior housing and retail
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8808/3660nhalsted.jpg

[harryc]

^^ Stayed there in the past - won't be staying there in the future ;-)

[Chicagoguy]

^I thought that Baker was coming back along with a Mario Tricoci university?

The Greektown Museum looks really good. So much better than the vacant lot that sat there for years.
---

3600 N Halsted conversion and new construction - affordable LGTB senior housing and retail
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8808/3660nhalsted.jpg

Thanks for posting spyguy....I have actually been waiting for a while to see what this proposal was going to look like. Have you heard any time lines of when they are aiming to start construction?

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

The Greektown Museum looks really good. So much better than the vacant lot that sat there for years.

...and a lot better than the two initial designs.

3600 N Halsted conversion and new construction - affordable LGTB senior housing and retail

Fabulous.

[ardecila]

^^ Stayed there in the past - won't be staying there in the future ;-)

:haha::haha:

[Nowhereman1280]

Fabulous.

O_o

I see what you did there...

[untitledreality]

3600 N Halsted conversion and new construction - affordable LGTB senior housing and retail
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/8808/3660nhalsted.jpg

Looks to be far superior to the previous design for the building. Should complement well with the Center on Halsted.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Looks to be far superior to the previous design for the building. Should complement well with the Center on Halsted.

Right? It's great to see development in this area take a turn for the modern.

I didn't even know they were planning affordable housing for LGBT seniors. IMO, it's great to see the neighborhood's identity given a permanent, physical presence. The area seems to have increasingly become a destination for young families, not necessarily a bad thing except for the women leading the move because of some tacky bachelorette party at the Kit Kat Lounge they once attended and who now cringe at the thought of their six-month-old seeing a giant glittering dildo in a window display.

[Mr Downtown]

^The glittering dildos are for display purposes only. They'd be really uncomfortable and hard to clean.

I just wish someone would revoke the directive that all new institutional buildings must have random fenestration patterns. In 20 years we're going to laugh at them, just as we did last time. Lots of college campuses have a building from the 60s that, it's rumored, was specified to look like an IBM punchcard. (Of course, few people on campus or on this forum have ever seen an IBM punchcard.)

I don't have any credentials to wave around, but I've spent a lifetime thinking about what makes certain designs timeless and others a passing fad. I believe there's a deep-seated human desire for architecture to display regularity and pattern, precisely because that puts it in delightful counterpoint to the fractal randomness of nature.

[Kippis]

Fabulous.

^ Tim Gunn would be proud.

Haha anyway, I'm really liking the design as well. Are there any official renderings of this project as of yet?

[Nowhereman1280]

I just wish someone would revoke the directive that all new institutional buildings must have random fenestration patterns. In 20 years we're going to laugh at them, just as we did last time. Lots of college campuses have a building from the 60s that, it's rumored, was specified to look like an IBM punchcard. (Of course, few people on campus or on this forum have ever seen an IBM punchcard.)


We still have boxes and boxes of them from when my Dad was a mainframe salesman in the 1980's and from his final project in his programming course he took in college. We use them as scrap paper to make lists on.

Edit: By we I mean my parents do at their house in WI.

[SamInTheLoop]

^The glittering dildos are for display purposes only. They'd be really uncomfortable and hard to clean.

I just wish someone would revoke the directive that all new institutional buildings must have random fenestration patterns. In 20 years we're going to laugh at them, just as we did last time. Lots of college campuses have a building from the 60s that, it's rumored, was specified to look like an IBM punchcard. (Of course, few people on campus or on this forum have ever seen an IBM punchcard.)

I don't have any credentials to wave around, but I've spent a lifetime thinking about what makes certain designs timeless and others a passing fad. I believe there's a deep-seated human desire for architecture to display regularity and pattern, precisely because that puts it in delightful counterpoint to the fractal randomness of nature.


I'm not sure this laughing at irregular fenestration patterns for projects of yesteryear is quite as widespread as you seem to think it is. Sure, some may be just bad, but is there something inherent about irregular facades that makes them seem dated with time? Perhaps if it becomes a dominant fad in design for a short period with a high proportion of designs that also happen to be 'bad'....but I'm just not as convinced......at any rate, I like the Lakeview proposal, and am glad to hear the design has evolved in a very positive fashion (although I have not seen previous versions)...

[sentinel]

According to Curbed Chicago, the Harper Court U of C building with the LA Fitness retail tenant breaks ground today! I believe that this is only Phase I, with Phase II being the high-rise building?

[ardecila]

Yea Phase I is the office midrise and the new Harper Court street.

The "random" patterns often seem like laziness to me. Designers come up with a standard box and then, instead of focusing on a set of subtle moves to refine the facade, they do the most large-scale, inexpensive pattern they can think of. Maybe laziness isn't correct... but budget constraints are a big part of it. That said, I have seen some very good examples.

[pilsenarch]

Yea Phase I is the office midrise and the new Harper Court street.

The "random" patterns often seem like laziness to me. Designers come up with a standard box and then, instead of focusing on a set of subtle moves to refine the facade, they do the most large-scale, inexpensive pattern they can think of. Maybe laziness isn't correct... but budget constraints are a big part of it. That said, I have seen some very good examples.

In reality, developing a well-proportioned and seemingly random design (very often, what appears to be random is not) is one of the most challenging design endeavors, IMO

[Rizzo]

I'm not sure this laughing at irregular fenestration patterns for projects of yesteryear is quite as widespread as you seem to think it is. Sure, some may be just bad, but is there something inherent about irregular facades that makes them seem dated with time? Perhaps if it becomes a dominant fad in design for a short period with a high proportion of designs that also happen to be 'bad'....but I'm just not as convinced......at any rate, I like the Lakeview proposal, and am glad to hear the design has evolved in a very positive fashion (although I have not seen previous versions)...

I think the random patterning of glazing and infill is definitely a design fad that will fade with time as tastes shift. We will look back and say "that was very 2010." I think it has its place in some designs, whereas in other facade strategies, it looks very forced. Instead of curtainwall, I think the 70's and 80's had a moment where shifting windows (punched openings in a load bearing wall) around without vertical alignment was all the rage.

[ardecila]

In reality, developing a well-proportioned and seemingly random design (very often, what appears to be random is not) is one of the most challenging design endeavors, IMO

No, I've done it myself. You can pour as much or as little time into it as you want, but I'm pretty convinced that it makes little difference in the end result.

[intrepidDesign]

Urbs in Horto

I always though Chicago and her neighborhoods had a lot of green space compared to most cities i've visited, so I was surprised when that recent report came out citing the lack of access to green space.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ We have a ton of green space and not enough parks. Every street is lined with green space, but it doesn't do much other than look pretty.

[Rizzo]

No, I've done it myself. You can pour as much or as little time into it as you want, but I'm pretty convinced that it makes little difference in the end result.

I'm guilty as well

[george]

11-16

Burberry

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5296/bur1r.jpg

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9672/bur2y.jpg

[pilsenarch]

No, I've done it myself. You can pour as much or as little time into it as you want, but I'm pretty convinced that it makes little difference in the end result.

If you didn't "pour" a significant amount of time into it, then it probably was a crap result and will look dated....

[i_am_hydrogen]

State Street nixes holiday white lights
Crain's Chicago Business
November 17, 2011

Those twinkling white tree lights, so synonymous with the holidays, aren't going up on State Street this year.

Instead, the Chicago Loop Alliance — the non-profit that promotes the nine-block swath of State Street that runs through the Loop — is using the money normally earmarked for bedecking trees to finance a new light-based art exhibit called "Lightscape."

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20111117/BLOGS01/111119804/state-street-nixes-holiday-white-lights#ixzz1dznmN1rl

[Dan in Chicago]

Hi everyone, it's good to be back here! I'm living in Chicago again after a couple years in Germany. I hope to get back in touch with lots of you, and will soon resume visiting construction sites to get heights!

Here's the Logan Arts Center at the University of Chicago (11 floors; photos taken November 16):
http://picture.shotsharing.com/photo/211053541/mid/Logan-Center-for-Creative-and-Performing-Arts,-Chicago.jpg http://image.shotsharing.com/photo/844977032/mid/Logan-Center-for-Creative-and-Performing-Arts,-Chicago.jpg

It seems to be clad in wood... if so, it will easily be Chicago's tallest building with a wooden facade.

This is the new U of C hospital building (10 floors):
http://picture.shotsharing.com/photo/921363658/mid/University-of-Chicago-Hospital,-Chicago.jpg

[wrab]

^ Glad to read that you are back. Thanks for the HP photo updates.

[BorisMolotov]

Wow they really changed the Logan center from some of the more preliminary plans for it. It used to be just a tall box with none of the terraces or cantilevers

[Romero]

Welcome back Dan. I look forward to your future contributions to the Forum. Growing up in South Chicago and now living in California, I tap the Forum frequently to follow building activity in my home town. Your update on Hyde Park and U of C was nice.

Tony in Woodacre

[sentinel]

Hi everyone, it's good to be back here! I'm living in Chicago again after a couple years in Germany. I hope to get back in touch with lots of you, and will soon resume visiting construction sites to get heights!

Here's the Logan Arts Center at the University of Chicago (11 floors; photos taken November 16):
http://picture.shotsharing.com/photo/211053541/mid/Logan-Center-for-Creative-and-Performing-Arts,-Chicago.jpg http://image.shotsharing.com/photo/844977032/mid/Logan-Center-for-Creative-and-Performing-Arts,-Chicago.jpg

It seems to be clad in wood... if so, it will easily be Chicago's tallest building with a wooden facade.


Dan! Welcome back!! Good to have you back in Chicago...
Thanks for the Logan Center pics - that's one of my new favs - I believe it isn't wood though - I think the exterior is clad in a pre-cast/limestone masonry-style unit; very long and narrow - similar profile to the brick on the Robie House - either I'm going crazy or I remember a picture that spyguy (or someone else) posted a while ago, possibly of a mock-up panel of the exterior cladding :shrug:

I'm glad that the University is using a consistent material palette for many of their new buildings - We used the same material on the Booth School of Business back in 2003, albeit a larger unit size.

[J_M_Tungsten]

Man that U of C hospital is a beast, but it still fits in well.

[Steely Dan]

welcome back Dan! great to hear from you. you back living in hyde park again?

[Dan in Chicago]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I'm living in Hyde Park now. To be honest I've been back over a year already, but I've been hiding in the woodwork for a while.

Sentinel, you must be right about the facade strips. They just had the sheen and the color variation of wood, plus being cut into what looked like boards, so I guessed that's what it was.

[wrab]

Looks as if Michelin has downgraded L2O from *** to *. But they still love Alinea at ***.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/11/15/michelin-guide-revealed-alinea-gets-3-stars-l20-drops-to-1-avenues-off-list.php

[Buckman821]

I know it's been a while since we were discussing this project but I found this image on the Schafer Condon Carter website which seems to indicate that they are indeed replacing the cornice.

http://www.schafercondoncarter.com/public/culture/galleries/photos/gallery_photo_z8r09pgk0x.jpg

:banana:

[i_am_hydrogen]

FYI... All of the posts on the Boystown proposal have been moved to the highrise project thread since that building is over 12 stories. Please continue the discussion there.

[J_M_Tungsten]

11-19
Ronald McDonald House
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt1/JMTUNGSTEN/1dfa377b.jpg

Jones college prep
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt1/JMTUNGSTEN/9463fc11.jpg

Parking lot on 9th and state (hopefully the site of that recent proposal)
http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt1/JMTUNGSTEN/1074f849.jpg

[Baronvonellis]

Uhhh, whats the deal with that Praire Grass light display along State St. That came out of nowhere. Any renderings? It sounds like it could be really tacky if they don't pull it off. Giant Grass stalks wtf???!! Sounds like something from Willy Wonky and Chocolate factory where they are in the room with the giant mushrooms lol

[BWChicago]

Uhhh, whats the deal with that Praire Grass light display along State St. That came out of nowhere. Any renderings?

http://chicagoist.com/2011/11/18/lightscape_to_bring_holiday_cheer_t.php

[lawfin]

http://chicagoist.com/2011/11/18/lightscape_to_bring_holiday_cheer_t.php

This is a godawful tacky decision.....and the music.....jeezuz......I feel like I am in some mall in some low rent midwestern backwater......then again

[i_am_hydrogen]

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u291/kdickert/HellEx2.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u291/kdickert/Hell7BWBrighter-1.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u291/kdickert/Hell1C.jpg

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u291/kdickert/Hell4Skinnier.jpg

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Looks as if Michelin has downgraded L2O from *** to *. But they still love Alinea at ***.

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2011/11/15/michelin-guide-revealed-alinea-gets-3-stars-l20-drops-to-1-avenues-off-list.php

Did you read the comments section?! A lot of shade being thrown around...

[spyguy]

Walgreens is set to replace Borders at Clark and Diversey
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7052/walgreenscd.jpg

And random renderings of the Hotel Lincoln (a Joie de Vivre hotel) and rooftop bar
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/7814/hotellincoln1.jpg
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4492/hotellincoln2.jpg

[HowardL]

Walgreens is set to replace Borders at Clark and DiverseyWhen they relocate, I wonder if their old store across Broadway would be in play to be redeveloped. There had been some talk a few (several) months back about redeveloping that spot with a short-ish midrise.

[J_M_Tungsten]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I think it will do better in that spot. If that mid-rise goes in, it will change the area for sure.

[bnk]

Lots of pics of Aqua Blue hotel [28 pics] in the Aqua building below. Worth the look.:cool:

http://travel.usatoday.com/alliance/flights/boardingarea/post/2011/11/Loyalty-Traveler---Tour-of-the-Radisson-Blu-Aqua-Hotel-Chicago/569318/1

[lawfin]

I really wish that former Border site would get redeveloped into a flatiron type mid / high rise in say the 8-15 story range

[J_M_Tungsten]

That would be better, kind of Milwaukee, north, and damen style.

[pip]

When they relocate, I wonder if their old store across Broadway would be in play to be redeveloped. There had been some talk a few (several) months back about redeveloping that spot with a short-ish midrise.

oh wow. good question

[Rizzo]

I really wish that former Border site would get redeveloped into a flatiron type mid / high rise in say the 8-15 story range

That's what I was hoping for as well.

[i_am_hydrogen]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I'm living in Hyde Park now. To be honest I've been back over a year already, but I've been hiding in the woodwork for a while.

Great to have you back, Dan.

[down2earthguy76]

Did the bank close that was located in the front portion of the old Borders? Borders only occupied the back part of the building!

[denizen467]

Walgreens is set to replace Borders at Clark and Diversey
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/7052/walgreenscd.jpg

Dang, that is actually a notable improvement (how often do you hear that when Walgreens is involved?) from what has been there until now, where the vertex of that corner building was a wasted opportunity.

Will those escalators be for the Walgreens - and if so will it be the first 2-story Walgreens?

And yes indeed it will be fantastic if someone soon redevelops that crappy building across the street that Walgreens is vacating.

[denizen467]

And random renderings of the Hotel Lincoln (a Joie de Vivre hotel) and rooftop bar
I noticed from the site's press release that one of the Pritzkers just invested into Joie de Vivre, so maybe that explains the expansion into Chicago.

[ardecila]

I don't know if it will be the first two-story Walgreens. However, Walgreens (via Duane Reade) has introduced all sorts of new features at stores in New York that they will probably import to Chicago. They have nail salons, prepared foods, juice bars, health clinics, sushi, and growler bars.

[BWChicago]

I think the old Walgreens at State & Randolph was a two-story, and that was the oldest in the chain at the time of closing if I recall correctly

[harryc]

I think the old Walgreens at State & Randolph was a two-story, and that was the oldest in the chain at the time of closing if I recall correctly

Yes, ground level and lower level.

[emathias]

I think the old Walgreens at State & Randolph was a two-story, and that was the oldest in the chain at the time of closing if I recall correctly

Isn't the one at Randolph and Franklin also two-level, including basement?

[spyguy]

Don't worry, we'll be getting a new 2 story Walgreens flagship at State and Randolph (modeled after the Duane Reade on Wall Street) pretty soon. ;)

Surprised this hasn't gotten a lot of attention since it's basically a West Loop landmark. The retail portion definitely sounds intriguing since it's so close to Aviary, Next, Moto, etc. I'd love to see a rooftop bar/lounge with the Fulton Market sign as a backdrop.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20111119/ISSUE01/311199978

Sterling Bay buying Fulton St. cold storage building with offices in mind
By: Ryan Ori November 21, 2011

Chicago developer Sterling Bay LLC aims to turn a hulking warehouse in the city's rapidly gentrifying meatpacking district into high-tech office space.

Sterling Bay has agreed to buy the Fulton Market Cold Storage building at 1000 W. Fulton St., sources say. A zoning change is needed to convert it to office space for thousands of workers, ground-floor restaurants and built-in parking for about 300 cars.

[harryc]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H02tbA4zMm8/STHEDsEPXUI/AAAAAAAA_oI/76ubmviBlwA/s912/P1140393_1_2.jpg
SE corner (in background) - new yuppie stuff in fore

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-FnsFU2RT7hs/STGptwuGHbI/AAAAAAAA_kU/KGAbdvEBzac/s912/P1160612.JPG
SE corner (in background) - legacy distribution businesses in fore.

[ardecila]

Surprised this hasn't gotten a lot of attention since it's basically a West Loop landmark. The retail portion definitely sounds intriguing since it's so close to Aviary, Next, Moto, etc. I'd love to see a rooftop bar/lounge with the Fulton Market sign as a backdrop.

I'm hoping that if I ignore it, it won't happen.

One more awesome industrial district turned into a playground for people with way more money and social standing than me. One more source of working-class jobs relocated to McCook or Bolingbrook. Maybe I should just move to Detroit.

[the urban politician]

^ The core of Chicago either becomes a playground for the rich or it dies.

Seems simple enough for me.

Modern industrial tenants want to be in large warehouses far from dense areas, close to highways, and where the cost of land and taxes are lower.

The only way a developer or property owner can justify renovating a ridiculously old building is with the knowledge that either well paying residential or commercial tenants will be occupying the space, not a bunch of hipsters who paint landscapes for a living and want to pay $400/month of rent. Also, why would I spend $5 million renovating a large brick building only to not know whether or not I will ever fill the space with some fictional industrial tenant?

I'm doing a reno in E. Village, it's costing a shitload of money, and the only reason I'm doing it is because it is an area where rents & future property value increases seem to justify the effort.

Besides, what's wrong with the core of the region (Chicago central area and surroundings) becoming more expensive while the middle class and more moderate income families being pushed towards the periphery? I'd much rather see Chicago go through that process than what has happened to most other cities in the midwest and nation as a whole (city core went to shit and never recovered).. My point of view may not seem very sympathetic, but that's just my take on the whole thing..

[J_M_Tungsten]

The only thing that gets me is the indoor parking for 300 cars, but I guess since it is on the periphery of the downtown, they need the parking to sell the business to people. I'm not too familiar with the area, but isn't there a green line stop near there?

[Rizzo]

One more source of working-class jobs relocated to McCook or Bolingbrook. Maybe I should just move to Detroit.

Well do your homework, because you'll be greeted by the same force of gentrification upon entering Detroit city limits.

And I'll also say that what's happening to the cold storage building is precisely the type of conversions going on in Detroit.

I agree it sucks another piece of Old Chicago will be lost to the 21st century global city, but it's better than an empty building sitting around. Please keep in mind that industry needs to modernize with the times. The buildings in the West loop are vintage, they are terrible for modern manufacturing and storage but are superb for office space and residential. At least give some credit for another century on their lifespan.

Nothing says the area can't remain industrial so as long as the businesses themselves continue to invest.

[pip]

I'm curious about the victor hotel in this pic:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H02tbA4zMm8/STHEDsEPXUI/AAAAAAAA_oI/76ubmviBlwA/s912/P1140393_1_2.jpg

[untitledreality]

but isn't there a green line stop near there?

Yup... right at Morgan and Lake. Less than a 3 minute walk. Parking for 300 is a joke, you wont even have the demand for that within the office/retail component of redeveloping the building, so what does it become then? Partial parking garage for Fulton Market?

[J_M_Tungsten]

3 minutes away! That's insane!

[BWChicago]

I'm curious about the victor hotel in this pic:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H02tbA4zMm8/STHEDsEPXUI/AAAAAAAA_oI/76ubmviBlwA/s912/P1140393_1_2.jpg

It's a nightclub

[harryc]

It's a nightclub

This area used to boast some nice punk clubs - coming out at 4am to the sight of bemused workers wheeling around chicken carcasses. Bright white lighting and white docks. Now townhomes.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Sterling Bay has agreed to buy the Fulton Market Cold Storage building at 1000 W. Fulton St., sources say. A zoning change is needed to convert it to office space for thousands of workers, ground-floor restaurants and built-in parking for about 300 cars.

Good news, I think. I love this building and have been worried about it for the long term. It has to be something, and I don't think it can be cold storage forever. There's a potential for an Old Post Office problem with this one, I think, as it's got few windows, a very large footprint and more usable space than seems could easily be absorbed. If someone's investing in this without it first spending a decade at risk, I'm tickled.

[Nowhereman1280]

I agree it sucks another piece of Old Chicago will be lost to the 21st century global city, but it's better than an empty building sitting around. Please keep in mind that industry needs to modernize with the times. The buildings in the West loop are vintage, they are terrible for modern manufacturing and storage but are superb for office space and residential. At least give some credit for another century on their lifespan.

The description you used for these buildings is kind. I do this for a living and vintage manufacturing buildings are not just "terrible" for modern industrial purposes, they are damn near useless for modern purposes. You can't get shit done in a building designed for 20th century equipment. New automated lines and automated warehousing requires high cube buildings that consist of a single floor. If we want to continue to have any competitive manufacturing at all we need to continue to update our industrial building stock to be competitive with what is being built abroad which is, you guessed it, modern high cube industrial buildings.

[ardecila]

I'm actually really interested in the evolution of manufacturing processes over time. Chicago was the king of industrial architecture, with really creative (and unsung) people like Charles Nimmons and Alfred Altschuler finding ways to glorify industrial production through architecture. They created buildings that were beautiful, perfectly functional, and economical for their occupants to build and maintain - that's why they're still around today after 80 years of neglect.

Today, the best you can hope for is a tilt-up box on Bolingbrook surrounded by a moat of useless lawn and ugly parking lots. Industrial architecture was a huge inspiration for Modernism, but now there's virtually no concept that industrial architecture can fit into a city or that it can be beautiful.

[BVictor1]

I don't know if this has been posted, but the brutalist portion of South Shore High School is nearly totally demolished.

[george]

^ The core of Chicago either becomes a playground for the rich or it dies.

Seems simple enough for me.


I'm doing a reno in E. Village, it's costing a shitload of money, and the only reason I'm doing it is because it is an area where rents & future property value increases seem to justify the effort.



Where's the reno in E. Village you're doing?

[george]

This area used to boast some nice punk clubs - coming out at 4am to the sight of bemused workers wheeling around chicken carcasses. Bright white lighting and white docks. Now townhomes.

Which punk clubs did this area used to boast? just curious. I remember old band practice spaces on Fulton St. and on Lake St, but can't think of any clubs.

Edit: I finally remembered, Space Place at Fulton & Morgan.

[J_M_Tungsten]

Is there a master plan for streeterville's empty lots like lake shore east has? I'm finding old renderings of some pretty decent proposals back in 2005 that I'm assuming the market killed?

[denizen467]

^ Other than Cityfront Center at the end of the 1980s (whose lots' individual owners have since been following their own independent agendas) by I think Lohan, the only master plan that theoretically might exist would be one by Northwestern, but it's very close to the vest if they even do have any firm plans.

[lawfin]

^ The core of Chicago either becomes a playground for the rich or it dies.

Seems simple enough for me.

Modern industrial tenants want to be in large warehouses far from dense areas, close to highways, and where the cost of land and taxes are lower.

The only way a developer or property owner can justify renovating a ridiculously old building is with the knowledge that either well paying residential or commercial tenants will be occupying the space, not a bunch of hipsters who paint landscapes for a living and want to pay $400/month of rent. Also, why would I spend $5 million renovating a large brick building only to not know whether or not I will ever fill the space with some fictional industrial tenant?

I'm doing a reno in E. Village, it's costing a shitload of money, and the only reason I'm doing it is because it is an area where rents & future property value increases seem to justify the effort.

Besides, what's wrong with the core of the region (Chicago central area and surroundings) becoming more expensive while the middle class and more moderate income families being pushed towards the periphery? I'd much rather see Chicago go through that process than what has happened to most other cities in the midwest and nation as a whole (city core went to shit and never recovered).. My point of view may not seem very sympathetic, but that's just my take on the whole thing..

It's easy to say that from 300,000 meters away but its just wrong.Perhaps it might be correct if you define core of chicago very conservatively. Now your 6th paragraph makes more sense but the two are not necessarily parallel. despite rumors to the contrary there are still plenty of areas in chicago even ones that are relatively close in that are immensely more affordable at proximity to the center than perhaps in any other city of its class in the world......taking into account prevailing wage levels etc

[george]

11-22

Burberry

This liner is interesting. It looks like a concrete slab is under it, is another slab poured on top? Pretty elaborate rain protection if nothing else.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4915/burb1.jpg

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2733/burb2g.jpg

[wrab]

I don't know if this has been posted, but the brutalist portion of South Shore High School is nearly totally demolished.

That was quite a building. Not many full-out brutalist buildings of that scale like it in Chicago.

[Rizzo]

11-22

Burberry

This liner is interesting. It looks like a concrete slab is under it, is another slab poured on top? Pretty elaborate rain protection if nothing else.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4915/burb1.jpg

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2733/burb2g.jpg

Slab goes OVER the liner.

[J_M_Tungsten]

It appears that work has begun on the esquire theater.

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt1/JMTUNGSTEN/208b74c2.jpg
Photo from http://blog.chicagoarchitecture.info/

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Speaking of the Esquire Theater conversion, I hear Dior will be opening a standalone store there. (They had hitherto operated out of Saks.)

[BVictor1]

Condolences to the Daley family.

[pip]

^yeah like him or not he is Chicago in many ways. Though Daley's leadership in the end may have been dated, I like the new Mayor more, he did plant the seed for putting Chicago where it is today in many ways and I guess that depends on what perspective.

[ardecila]

I'm glad he had nearly a year to spend with his wife after getting out of the confines of the 5th floor. Often I tend to view politicians as a living representation of their abstract policy positions, not as people who love and are loved. It doesn't help that so many pols are emotionally distant from their wives. Clearly, Daley cared deeply for his wife.

My deepest condolences also go out to the Daleys.

[M II A II R II K]

$20 million makeover planned for Viceroy Hotel


November 25, 2011

By John Byrne

Read More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-viceroy-hotel-20111125,0,4239213.story

The Viceroy Hotel is about to get a makeover. Like many of its former residents, the historic art deco building on the Near West Side has been down on its luck, sitting vacant since 2003. Now, wholesale renovations are set to begin within weeks to transform the former flophouse into affordable housing for the homeless and people recently released from prison. The city of Chicago is helping pay for the project by offering nearly $3.9 million from a pool of tax-increment financing money. The rehab plan started under Mayor Richard Daley, but it's in keeping with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's vision for the future of the city's controversial property tax incentive program.

- Work to rebuild the inside of the six-story building will start after Heartland Housing takes ownership. Construction will take a little more than a year at a cost of about $20 million. Besides the city tax funding, the project also relies on state money tied to historic preservation projects and affordable housing, said Michael Goldberg, executive director of Heartland Housing. The new, 89-unit building overlooking Union Park will meet a deep need for cheap apartments in the area, said the Rev. George Daniels, pastor of First Baptist Congregational Church, a block from the hotel.

- The church plans to run community programs and set up a computer lab in the new apartment building, which Daniels hopes will become a step toward self-respect for people who have lost their homes and their jobs. "This neighborhood, and the city as a whole, lacks these types of resources to help people get back on their feet," Daniels said. "This is a small step in the right direction, so I celebrate that."

.....

[ardecila]

Wait... what exactly is the difference between a "flophouse" and "affordable housing for the homeless and people recently released from prison"? The building's function isn't changing.

[denizen467]

Recently people have noted the declining population of the city, despite the boom in downtown-area residential stock. Migration to the South has always been one reason, especially since Western migration subsided, but here's a vivid example of one beneficiary of the shifting national demographics. It also portends what Chicago might expect going forward in cultivating new national institutions after the heyday of Ebony and Jet, the Defender, blues, Oprah, and so on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/us/atlanta-emerges-as-a-center-of-black-entertainment.html

Stars Flock to Atlanta, Reshaping a Center of Black Culture
Published: November 25, 2011

...

To be sure, Atlanta has long had a high concentration of well-connected, affluent blacks. But the Atlanta area is now home to such a critical mass of successful actors, rappers and entertainment executives that few would argue its position as the center of black culture. ...

The growth has also been fed by a decade of migration of blacks from the North. Nearly a quarter of a million blacks moved to the greater Atlanta area from outside the South between 2005 and 2010, making it the metro area with the largest number of black residents after New York. ...

[the urban politician]

Recently people have noted the declining population of the city, despite the boom in downtown-area residential stock. Migration to the South has always been one reason, especially since Western migration subsided, but here's a vivid example of one beneficiary of the shifting national demographics. It also portends what Chicago might expect going forward in cultivating new national institutions after the heyday of Ebony and Jet, the Defender, blues, Oprah, and so on.


^ What, that Chicago might become more white or Hispanic?

I for one welcome the day that a massive chunk of the city is not relegated to one single race (white or black, to be honest), especially when that portion of the city could truly benefit from an infusion of diversity and economic vitality, instead of the stagnation that exists today. Right now there are certain leaders on the south side who want that part of the city to stay entirely black, and I think that is tragic.

Atlanta could find itself in that very same stagnant situation decades from now.

[untitledreality]

Right now there are certain leaders on the south side who want that part of the city to stay entirely black, and I think that is tragic.
Granted it was never a race issue, but along the same lines of "certain leaders on the south side", my all time favorite bone headed move, belongs to Bishop Arthur Brazier and his successful efforts to remove the Green Line from Cottage Grove to Stony Island because "it was blighting the neighborhood" and removing it would allow the 63rd corridor to enliven itself.

Fast forward 15 years and it has only gotten worse.

[BWChicago]

Wait... what exactly is the difference between a "flophouse" and "affordable housing for the homeless and people recently released from prison"? The building's function isn't changing.

Are these all the same:
-Section 8
-Robert Taylor Homes
-A dumbbell tenement
-Marshall Field Garden Apartments
-Near North SRO
-Hotel Chateau
-CHA townhouse

They all serve a similar demographic, but the execution is quite different. The aim here is apparently to take it from one extreme to the other.

[HowardL]

$20 million makeover planned for Viceroy HotelWait ... wait ... wait ... 20 fucking million??? The Belden-Stratford is selling for 60 yet a paint and drywall gig on the west side for transients is 20? I don't know the budget nor do I know the specifics of this project ... but 20 fucking million? Seems kinda high.