[orulz]

Remember the new 9th street underpass. That will be built by the city with TIF money, so it's not dependent on a particular project. Presumably the way folks will walk from Printers Row and adjacent blocks to the Roosevelt Collection will be via the new 9th Street and through the new park.
I've browsed the forum and several threads in addition to googling on this one and turned up basically nothing. I was in Chicago this Thanksgiving (beautiful weather!) and walking around the area I got a good idea of what's going on here and how far it still has to go. I was wondering if you could clarify a bit...

What's this 9th street underpass? Will this be an underpass below the Metra tracks, simply connecting between Wells and Clark? Or will this be a westward extension of the existing 9th street all the way to Clark and/or Wells? Can't imagine neighborhood residents would be too happy about that.

I've also read here about proposed new bridges over the river at Taylor and Polk. I can see how that would "open up" this area a lot, though the Dan Ryan is still a pretty huge barrier between UIC and the river. How do these new bridges fit in with this "9th street underpass" plan that you're talking about?

Thanks.

[Mr Downtown]

Ninth Street will be a new underpass under the Metra tracks, connecting Wells to Clark, and will be about 120 feet north of the old Ninth Street right-of-way east of Clark. The Metra tracks are too low for an underpass aligned with the right-of-way through Dearborn Park, and the DP residents would raise holy hell.

West of Wells, the city would like to build a Polk Street bridge in the next decade or so, but no funding has been identified.

Here's a map to help:
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4180/southloopparcelsij5.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[kayosthery]

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in Rosemont development, but Le Meridien has begun construction. I'm posting this here because the building has undergone a redesign due to take-off and landing patterns around O'Hare. It now will stand 11 storeys tall, instead of the 16 listed in the main boom rundown thread, and will be shaped like a "T" instead of an "l".

Currently the escavator is digging the elevator pit and mat slab and bringing the site to grade. Mud slab will be going in Friday and the elevator core walls will start next week.

I can photo update weekly starting next week when I am fully assigned to the project. What site is good to use for the photos? I'm thinking Photobucket or Shutterfly...?

[Chi_Coruscant]

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=23017

Another shopping center planned for South Loop


By Eddie Baeb
Nov. 29, 2006

The burgeoning South Loop retail scene around Roosevelt Road is getting more crowded.
A venture that includes retail developer John Terzakis is planning a three-floor, 225,000-square-foot shopping center dubbed South Loop Commons north of the corner of Canal and Taylor streets.

Meanwhile, Joffco Development LLC has added Best Buy and possibly a La-Z-Boy store to a Home Depot-anchored project just south at Roosevelt and Clinton Street that’s scheduled to open early next year.

“It’s a dynamic, very hot new retail corridor that people have likened to the North Avenue-Clybourn corridor,” says Leon Joffe, president of Northbrook-based Joffco. “You’ve got major retailers coming in or looking to come in.”

South Loop Commons is scheduled to open in spring 2009, with construction beginning early next year, says Joe Parrott, a CB Richard Ellis Inc. senior vice-president who began marketing the project to retailers earlier this year and hasn’t announced any tenants.

The center, at 1001 S. Clinton St., will be built atop the foundation of an industrial building that was the headquarters and warehouse of local retailer Chernin’s Shoes Inc.

The site is across Canal from the 300,000-square-foot Southgate Market, which is scheduled to open early next year and is to include a Whole Foods Market, Linens ’n’ Things and DSW shoe store.

Two larger mixed-use retail and residential developments are also being planned along Roosevelt just east across the Chicago River.

Retailers are looking to seize on the surging population of the South Loop. The population within one mile of where South Loop Commons is planned grew more than 16% from 2000 to 2006, according to CB Richard Ellis.

The population, with an average household income of $82,933, is estimated to grow another 10.4% by 2011.

South Loop Commons is to include three floors of retail, most fronting Canal Street, and four floors of parking with a total of 464 spaces. The center is being developed by Chicago-based real estate investment firm Equibase Capital Group LLC and Mr. Terkazis’ Single Site Solutions Corp. of west suburban Willowbrook.

Equibase and Mr. Terzakis bought the old Chernin’s building for $19.8 million from Chicago-based Sterling Bay Cos. in October 2005, according to property records. Executives at Equibase and Single Site Solutions didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Mr. Joffe says Best Buy Co. signed a lease at his Joffco Square development a few months ago and that the 45,000-square-foot Best Buy store is to open in March 2008. Company spokespeople at the suburban Minneapolis-based electronics retailer didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Mr. Joffe also has a letter of intent with La-Z-Boy Inc. to lease about 15,000 square feet on the second floor above Best Buy. It would be La-Z-Boy’s second store in the city.

Monroe, Mich.-based La-Z-Boy last year acquired all 13 of its Chicago-area stores from franchisees and is looking to expand in the city and suburbs, says a company spokeswoman, declining to discuss any specific locations.

[the urban politician]

^ Well, lets hope for some good designs.

Does anybody have renderings of any of this stuff?

Regarding the development of the south loop west of Clark: am I the only one who thinks that area is just going to be a confusing hodgepodge of random-ness and dead end roads? I'm wondering of, 100 years from now (if people still exist) people will look at this and find it to be a unique and perhaps charming part of the downtown area.

[Steely Dan]

I'm not sure if anyone is interested in Rosemont development, but Le Meridien has begun construction. I'm posting this here because the building has undergone a redesign due to take-off and landing patterns around O'Hare. It now will stand 11 storeys tall, instead of the 16 listed in the main boom rundown thread, and will be shaped like a "T" instead of an "l".


thanks for the update, i'll get it removed from the boom rundown list.

[honte]

^ Well, lets hope for some good designs.

Does anybody have renderings of any of this stuff?

Regarding the development of the south loop west of Clark: am I the only one who thinks that area is just going to be a confusing hodgepodge of random-ness and dead end roads? I'm wondering of, 100 years from now (if people still exist) people will look at this and find it to be a unique and perhaps charming part of the downtown area.

You have a point about randomness leading to charm. Not everything has to be 100% street grid to work. Printer's Row is a pretty good example of this.

But the architecture has to be good enough and responsive enough to its condition... I doubt we're building anything good enough to evolve so nicely.

[spyguy]

"South Loop Commons"
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/3779/southloopcommonszu8.jpg

[honte]

^ Well, that second rendering looks quite nice! The first one, however...

[forumly_chgoman]

^^^^Ughhhhhhh!

[the urban politician]

^ I can't say much from the rendering, but at least it's an urban design. Pardon my ignorance, but what's up with the Staples with the huge parking lot? Was that already built before or is it still planned for the future?

[honte]

That's an existing development... within one year, I'd say. Lots and lots of mini strip malls over there now TUP.

[Mr Downtown]

Regarding the development of the south loop west of Clark: am I the only one who thinks that area is just going to be a confusing hodgepodge of random-ness and dead end roads?

I certainly wish it could be better, but I'm not overly concerned. There actually won't be any dead ends once it's all built out, though there are a few places where the east-west streets don't line up. Roosevelt and Polk will go all the way through, as will Clark and Wells-Wentworth. The offsets in Ninth and Taylor are regrettable, but shouldn't be impossible to navigate. Remember there are similar offsets along North LaSalle Blvd or Broadway in Lakeview.

Only in the US outside New England do we think a street network is the same thing as a gridiron. So long as the network is continuous and reasonably dense, it shouldn't be unworkable.

[honte]

I'm surprised this wasn't posted yet.... Something visionary!

Now the question is, what greatness will become of this wonderful old infrastructure. For instance, the Saint Charles Air Line bridges... if Daley's decommissioning thing happens, then does this suggest that the Air Line could be reused for pedestrian and bike traffic elevated off of the street grid? They just shamefully tore down a huge part of it over by the river for the UPS facility and the new bridge reconstruction, but that doesn't mean the rest has to go...
________________________________

Preserving a bridge to city's past
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/150318,CST-NWS-bridge27.article
12 railroad bridges could get landmark status

November 27, 2006
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter
For decades, Chicago's hulking railroad bridges carried rumbling freight and passenger trains through the city, serving as a link that bolstered industrial and economic growth.
Twelve of these movable structures, which evolved in design as shipping needs and technology changed, were recommended for landmark status recently by the Chicago Commission on Landmarks.

"They are pretty standout structures," said Terry Tatum, director of research for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development's landmarks division.

"The city was such an important center of railroad commerce from the 1850s on that identifying structures of importance to that history was something that we wanted to do."


Works like an elevator
The oldest standing bridges considered for landmark status, which needs City Council approval, are a pair of Illinois Central Railroad bridges that stretch across the Sanitary and Ship Canal on the South Side and date to the late 1800s.
The most modern is the Chicago & Western Indiana structure on the Far South Side. It was completed in the late 1960s.

Another bridge the commission seeks to preserve is the asymmetrical 19th century Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway's Bridge No. Z-2, which played a crucial role in the development of Goose Island because it was the only rail line to service industries and the freight yard there.

One of the more impressive bridges, Tatum said, is the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge, located south of 19th and east of Lumber.

When the bridge was completed in 1914, it was considered the most innovative style of the "vertical lift" model designed by engineers John Alexander Low Waddell and John Lyle Harrington. The bridge essentially operates like an elevator as its 1,500-ton span, which is suspended between two towers, is vertically raised and lowered by cables and pulleys.


Most still functioning
Other bridges recommended for landmark status include two Lake Shore & Michigan "vertical lift" bridges and the Chicago & Alton; Chicago & Northwestern; Pennsylvania Railroad "eight track;" Chicago & Illinois Western, and St. Charles Air Line bridges.
Most of the bridges, which could get landmark status as soon as spring, are still operable.

[Mr Downtown]

The mayor's a fan of Chicago's bridges as one of the things that give Chicago its character. He quietly set this preservation effort into motion a few years ago.

As for the St Charles Air Line, the longstanding plan is to use it as a greenway connecting lakefront and riverfront. Personally, I find it worrisome to give up a potentially valuable transit right of way for a strip of parkland.

The viaduct recently demolished between the river and the UPS campus was the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal RR, not the SCAL.

[honte]

As for the St Charles Air Line, the longstanding plan is to use it as a greenway connecting lakefront and riverfront. Personally, I find it worrisome to give up a potentially valuable transit right of way for a strip of parkland.

The viaduct recently demolished between the river and the UPS campus was the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal RR, not the SCAL.

Thanks for correcting me. I guess I need to get more familiar with these lines.

I thought the B&O was a spur of the St. Charles Air Line. They are nearly next to each other, no, or am I confused? I don't see any mention of that great B&O bridge in the article; I hope they got it too.

I agree that the right of way should remain for transit. It seems foolish and of course these things exist without difficulty in most other Chicago neighborhoods. Frankly I don't understand why we should pay the expense to relocate this line, which appears to be for the sole reason that the South Loop is gentrifying. It doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent to development down there, and isn't it part of the charm of the area anyway?

Is the plan to demolish the structure and just make something like the "Prairie Path" on grade, or would it at least keep the elevated structure? Why waste the infrastructure and ability to give a dedicated right-of-way, even if it's just for bikes and pedestrians, rather than busses or light-rail? Surely the structure needs some repair and gaining access would be something of a challenge, but Paris and NY have managed to create very good plans for reusing these kinds of elevated tracks. Chicago should be a leader given how many of them we have to deal with, and the potential gains from doing it right.

A great network of safe, elevated, landscaped bike and pedestrian pathways throughout the city would be the envy of most every city in the world. Imagine how many would-be commuters would opt for bike transit if they were given a straight-shot means of commuting, without interference from or the perils of vehicles?

[Mr Downtown]

B&O CT and SCAL had adjacent bridges (built over dry land as the river was being rechanneled in 1927-29) and ran side-by-side from there west to at least Halsted (with a team track in between). With the railroad ROW at both ends now sold off, I'm not sure what will become of the B&OCT bridge.

As for the SCAL, I've never gotten a satisfactory answer as to why the city feels the need to move the railroad off of it. Bill Wendt sneers at "yuppies" complaining about it, but I've never been to a meeting where it was even brought up. Perhaps the trains squeal on the curve at South Y Junction, next to Central Station, and those folks complain to their mayoral neighbor.

I think the intent would be to keep it as an elevated greenway, like the Bloomingdale Trail. But the connection (further south) that would allow the railroad to abandon it is part of the still-unfunded CREATE plan. I wouldn't make plans to bike there next summer.

Imagine how many would-be commuters would opt for bike transit if they were given a straight-shot means of commuting
Oh, about 120 more than do so now. The north and south lakefronts already have such a path, and the modal split for bikes is less than rounding error.

[VivaLFuego]

B&O CT and SCAL had adjacent bridges (built over dry land as the river was being rechanneled in 1927-29) and ran side-by-side from there west to at least Halsted (with a team track in between). With the railroad ROW at both ends now sold off, I'm not sure what will become of the B&OCT bridge.

As for the SCAL, I've never gotten a satisfactory answer as to why the city feels the need to move the railroad off of it. Bill Wendt sneers at "yuppies" complaining about it, but I've never been to a meeting where it was even brought up. Perhaps the trains squeal on the curve at South Y Junction, next to Central Station, and those folks complain to their mayoral neighbor.

I think the intent would be to keep it as an elevated greenway, like the Bloomingdale Trail. But the connection (further south) that would allow the railroad to abandon it is part of the still-unfunded CREATE plan. I wouldn't make plans to bike there next summer.


Oh, about 120 more than do so now. The north and south lakefronts already have such a path, and the modal split for bikes is less than rounding error.

How would IC trains from the south be routed to downtown? As it is now, it's pretty cumbersome on Amtrak, which pulls forward into a yard then backs into Union Station. If they could figure out a track connection to make it a straight shot into Union Station from the south, they could shave 15 minutes off the travel time.

[spyguy]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/156561,CST-NWS-uptown01.article

Historic Uptown may get an encore at last
Interested firms large enough to restore landmark

December 1, 2006
BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter

The landmark Uptown Theatre, 4816 N. Broadway, has been mostly unused for 25 years. Community-based plans for a revival foundered because little but hope was behind them.

Now, the Uptown has another chance. This one involves prospective buyers with money and, maybe, a real plan for putting the huge auditorium to use.

Two companies that specialize in concert promotions and large-scale entertainment, Live Nation Inc. and AEG, have examined the property, sources said.

Greg Harris, an aide to Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th), confirmed both companies' interest and said either or both are expected to submit a proposal in December. "These are major groups that have the financial capacity to do the job right," he said.

Harris said both would restore the 1925 building for its original use as a live performance venue.

The local aldermanic office is involved because city officials are pressuring the Uptown's owner to sell. The theater is controlled by Robert Lunn, a financial adviser forced into bankruptcy by creditors who accuse him of misusing their money.

Companies have venues here

The City Council has given Mayor Daley's administration authority to forcibly acquire the theater. Threatening condemnation was a tactic to force Lunn to accept an offer.

Harris said the city hopes a voluntary sale can be worked out. Lunn, he said, has voiced a willingness to cooperate.

Lunn did not return calls. Live Nation had no immediate comment and AEG did not respond to messages.

Live Nation bills itself as "the world's leading live entertainment company" and owns such local venues as the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park and the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis. For $354 million, Live Nation bought the House of Blues nightclub chain a month ago.

It also manages the bookings for the Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island.

AEG owns Toyota Park in Bridgeview, home of another of its properties, the Chicago Fire, one of four Major League Soccer franchises it owns. It also owns the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Once part of thriving district

The city planning department declined to say if it has met with the companies. Spokeswoman Connie Buscemi said staffers "haven't seen any proposals yet but we look forward to doing so."

The department oversees landmark buildings and would review any zoning changes the site might need.

The Uptown was done in the Spanish Baroque style for the Balaban & Katz theater chain and anchored an entertainment district that thrived before World War II. It later showed movies and the occasional concert while suffering through a series of owners.

Lunn gained control of the building after the collapse of development ventures of a former business partner, Rudy Mulder. In 2002, Mulder was said to be offering the theater for $2.5 million.

[dvidler]

GlobeSt.com Commercial Real Estate News and Property Resource
Last updated: November 30, 2006 10:46pm
JV Starts On $225M Cabrini Green Replacement
By Robert Carr
(To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
CHICAGO-A joint venture has begun construction on the first phase of a large, roughly $225 million multifamily development that will replace a few Cabrini Green housing projects. The development, dubbed Parkside of Old Town, will have more than 760 townhomes, condos and apartments on an 18-acre parcel bordered by Seward Park and Larrabee, Division and Oak streets on Chicago’s Near North Side.

The redevelopment is part of the $1.5-billion CHA "Plan for Transformation," which has torn down high-rise public housing towers and replaced them with similar mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods. The high-rises that made up Cabrini Green once housed 35,000 people, but only about 1,500 people remain.

With a consent decree to form a new development partnership, the former residents have joined with two companies, Holsten Real Estate Development Corp. and Kimball Hill Urban Centers to build Parkside. Upon completion, the project will have about 20% low-income housing, 30% rental housing for current and returning Cabrini residents and 50% market rate housing and apartments.

Peter Holsten, president of the self-named firm, tells GlobeSt.com that Parkside will replace three of Cabrini’s high-rise buildings. He says the new project shouldn’t be affected by the stigma of the former buildings, pointing to a successful similar project called North Town Village, where his company manages the rental component, that had roughly the same combination of market-rate and affordable homes. That project hasn’t had much vacancy, Holsten says. “There were people who weren’t sure about it, but we’ve had an overwhelming response. If it’s a strong area, people will want to live there,” Holsten says.

He says construction has started on 280 homes, which will be townhomes priced from $499,000 and condominiums starting in the low-$200s. The company has about 100 contracts for the for-sale units, which was the catalyst for a JP Morgan Chase loan for the first phase, Holsten says. Once the firm sells another 14 units, he said construction can begin on the second condominium high-rise building.

He says financing is being arranged now, and should close in April, for the rental mid-rise building. “Each one of the phases should take about two years,” Holsten tells GlobeSt.com. “People should be moving into the first phase in the middle of next year.” Though sales of the homes generate income for the project, it is also subsidized by federal, state and local incentives.


Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
For reprint information call 410-571-5893 or e-mail afaulkner@remedianetwork.com.

[Mr Downtown]

How would IC trains from the south be routed to downtown?
I assume you're talking about Amtrak trains reaching Union Station. A new track connection would link the IC (at 81st) to the PRR (at 75th) using the former Nickel Plate right-of-way. Other new tracks and bridges would be required for the freight that moves along the IC lakefront line and SCAL, so that I'm told that nearly half the cost of CREATE is so the SCAL can be abandoned.

[VivaLFuego]

so that I'm told that nearly half the cost of CREATE is so the SCAL can be abandoned.

Hmm, I could see why the Feds wouldn't want to throw $500 million at Chicago for a pet pork project (Trent Lott and Ted Stevens could not be reached for comment as of this writing). And CREATE was billed as primarily being eliminating crossings, both rail/rail and rail/street, to improve safety and efficiency....so much for that.

So who owns that little bit of the NKP R-O-W at this point? the PRR is still operated as a freight line there, right? And didn't a track connection exist here at one point anyway? I think NKP trains went to LaSalle street. (why on earth would I know this? this all ended decades before I was born....)

[honte]

Oh, about 120 more than do so now. The north and south lakefronts already have such a path, and the modal split for bikes is less than rounding error.

I think you're mistaken there. People also live west, northwest, southwest. And not everyone works downtown or only goes downtown. These could also be transit within neighborhoods.

Safety and constant stopping at intersections are a major issue for many people who bike, especially for more than convenience. In Denver they have a few of these dedicated trails (although executed differently), and people go way out of their way to get there. If there were a network of them in Chicago, they would see a lot of use.

Anyway, thanks for the other info. I haven't seen the designation report, but I gather that the B&O bridge was not landmarked. When obvious things get skipped, this usually means something is going on that we don't know about, and it may not be good.

[honte]

Perhaps the trains squeal on the curve at South Y Junction, next to Central Station, and those folks complain to their mayoral neighbor.

WD-40?

[nomarandlee]

Great News !!! I saw a channel 11 special about the Uptown not to long ago and how volunteers were doing everything in their means to keep the maintence up. They gave a tour and what a stunning space, I was afraid we were going lose it.


Indeed, I'm stoked about this news. That piece on the Uptown was awesome. If it could be restored in any way like its former splendor it would be amazing and a great boon to Uptown. I don't care if Kevin Federline opened up the opening show I would go see it just to see it refurbished. It would be a magical place to see a show to say the least.

[spyguy]

I don't care if Kevin Federline opened up the opening show I would go see it just to go see it

Let's not get too drastic! :haha: In a few months, K-Fed will probably be opening the doors of the Uptown, not opening a show.

[Steely Dan]

the news about the uptown fills me with so much hope. how friggin awesome would it be to get that place back into tip-top?

[aaron38]

I passed by the Vic Condos at Belmont and Sheffield last night. They looked to be finishing off the last of the exterior masonry. I really liked the feel of this one as a good piece of TOD infil. At 7 stories with the penthouse, it's good density for the area. The Belmont 'L' stop is half a block away, and it integrates quite well into the streetwall of the existing building at the corner.

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/2624/sheffieldhi3.th.jpg
http://www.viccondos.com

[spyguy]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/158328,CST-NWS-house03.article

City backs housing to help 'people rebuild their lives'

December 3, 2006
BY JANET RAUSA FULLER Staff Reporter

A slew of new "supportive housing" -- for recovering addicts, those formerly homeless, grandparents caring for their grandchildren and young adults transitioning out of state care -- is going up on the South and West sides.

Mayor Daley on Saturday detailed plans for developments under way in North Lawndale, Washington Park and West Englewood totaling 164 new housing units.

In addition, the run-down Viceroy Hotel at 1519 W. Warren, which dates to 1929, will be redeveloped into 150 units of single-room-occupancy housing, Daley said.

The city will cover $42 million of the $64 million total cost of the projects, as well as provide 27 city-owned lots to be used as sites for the new buildings, which will offer residents on-site social services.

The developments, which will offer one- to four-bedroom apartments, are for people with incomes that are less than 50 percent of the area median.

"You can build any homes you want. But also you have to rebuild, I call it, the souls of people. It's helping people rebuild their lives," Daley said.

[the urban politician]

^ It's great to see the city gradually filling those empty lots back in. We're correcting the mistakes of mid-20th century urban renewal

[the urban politician]

http://www.newcommunities.org/news/articleDetail.asp?objectID=673
Portfolio: Chicago Southwest ‘Neighborhub’


A Chicago Southwest Community group and a major developer partner want to build a different kind of shopping center on the site of a former factory. The project is part of the New Communities Program's Community Investment Portfolio. The Cannery Shopping Center will be a "neighborhub" that appeals to ethnic communities underserved by retailers.

http://www.newcommunities.org/cmaimages/portfolioCL_01.jpg

The new center will anchor neighborhood redevelopment.
Photo: General Growth Properties

It will bring together stores, restaurants and other foot traffic generating uses to create a destination that appeals to a broad audience. General Growth Properties, one of the world's largest shopping center developers, is working with Greater Southwest Development Corporation to construct up to 375,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

BENEFITS Originally a can factory, the site was redeveloped in the 1980s for retail uses, but much of the land remains unused. The Cannery will anchor this intersection as a major retail destination. The catalytic effect already can be

http://www.newcommunities.org/cmaimages/portfolioCL_02.jpg

The Jewel-Osco will be part of the mix.
Photo: Eric Young Smith

seen with a smaller retail center now being developed across the street.

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION Greater Southwest Development Corporation (GSDC) was founded in 1974 to hold banks accountable for community disinvestment. GSDC's mission has broadened and, with its partners, it has been responsible for $500 million invested or retained in the neighborhood. Projects include a Jewel-Osco grocery store that was key to keeping 63rd and Western a vibrant retail district (and of which GSDC owns ¹/³); retention of the Nabisco bakery, which makes 22 million Oreo cookies a day; and housing developments, single-family rehabs and foreclosure-prevention work.

http://www.newcommunities.org/cmaimages/portfolioCL_03.jpg

A large population lives nearby.
Photo: Eric Young Smith


LOCATION
60th Street and Western Avenue

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
$62 million for construction and mortgage financing; lease commitments

OVERALL PROJECT VALUE
$62 million

TIMELINE
Summer 2007 Break ground
Summer 2008 Completion

PARTNERS
General Growth Properties

http://www.newcommunities.org/cmaimages/portfolioCL_04.jpg

The site includes ample vacant land.
Photo: Eric Young Smith

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
James Capraro
312.822.1388

[orulz]

B&O CT and SCAL had adjacent bridges (built over dry land as the river was being rechanneled in 1927-29) and ran side-by-side from there west to at least Halsted (with a team track in between).
These moveable bridges in Chicago absolutely fascinate me.

Here's a nice site (http://www.historicbridges.org/illinois/sbrr/index.htm) about the SCAL + B&O CT (historicbridges.org).

Here's my crazy idea. Would it be possible to restore the B&O bridge to working order, and re-task the bridges for vehicular & pedestrian traffic, with a connection to 16th street on either end?

- If the B&O can be repaired, with cantilevered sidewalks it might be possible to get two lanes on each bridge for a total of four lanes.

- If the bridges are too narrow, then one lane per bridge with sidewalks in or outside the superstructure would be fine.

- If the B&O is behond hope but the SCAL bridge is wide enough, then the idea can still work - two lanes (one for each direction) and double cantilevered sidewalks.

If the bridges are too narrow AND the B&O is dead, then forget about it :) Worth the thought, at least.

When (if) the SCAL is removed, could its right-of-way be used to extend the McCormick Place busway south to hyde park? (I think I read about a plan to do that on here somewhere.) Or would it be better served to add more capacity to the Metra Electric/South Shore line? (for future service, like the NICTD's Valparaiso or Lowell lines, for example.)

[Mr Downtown]

Would it be possible to restore the B&O bridge to working order, and re-task the bridges for vehicular & pedestrian traffic, with a connection to 16th street
Well, these bridges are just over a thousand feet from the 18th Street Bridge, so I don't know that an additional bridge could be justified here. Maybe in 50 years when something is built over the Metra and Amtrak coach yards west of the river.

Way back when the Sox stadium was proposed for the Riverside Park parcel at Clark/Roosevelt, I did propose using the B&OCT bridge to bring bus traffic directly from the Dan Ryan.

When (if) the SCAL is removed, could its right-of-way be used to extend the McCormick Place busway south to Hyde Park?
The SCAL only extends to South Y Junction (16th Street) where it joins the Metra Electric (IC) tracks. The IC was built as a 10-track ROW, but only 6 remain. Metra uses part of the ROW for an unpaved maintenance road. I think that's continuous all the way to 63rd, at least. The CN (IC) freight trackage north of 67th or so would also be unused once the SCAL is abandoned.

BUT, I don't know how many conventioneers want to go to Hyde Park.
Metra's agreement with the city/MPEA to allow the McCormick Place busway specifies that it can't be used by CTA.

As for Valpo/Lowell service, I think Metra would want that to come into LaSalle Street over NYC/RI tracks.

[denizen467]

As for Valpo/Lowell service, I think Metra would want that to come into LaSalle Street over NYC/RI tracks.
But aren't the tracks to LaSalle Street Station non-electrified?

[Mr Downtown]

Yes, just like the tracks to Lowell and Valparaiso.

[VivaLFuego]

Yes, just like the tracks to Lowell and Valparaiso.
So NICTD wouldn't want these new lines to be electrified?

[denizen467]

I suppose that's far more expensive than any benefits that would be gained from electrification. It's not just the construction of the catenaries, but also their ongoing maintenance.

[Busy Bee]

Want to do and will do are very different things.

If I understand it correctly, South Shore(I hate calling it by that stupid acronym, when you have a brand as awesome as South Shore Line, why would want to go by the operater name?)Phew! Now that that's off my chest... Anyways, if I understand it correctly, South Shore (unfortunitely) plans on running dual-mode equipment on these extentions insead of constructing costly, but much more awesome catenary. That means one of two things:

1) Similar looking to current MU's that have both a roof top pantograph and a cab car with a diesel-electric motor, or...

2) I Hope not but... A diesel-electric loco with rooftop pantograph operating as push pull, ala Metra style.

I really hope they see the light and go all out for an overhead electric system. The South Shore is America's last true electric interurban. Let's capitalize on that and expand what makes it good in the first place.

The extensions would be great, i just would like to see them done with some foresight.

That reminds me of a favorite expression of mine:
"Hindsight is like foresight, but without a future."

[denizen467]

Could you explain the difference between the two?
Also, doesn't the NE corridor count as a 'true electric interurban'?

[Busy Bee]

Could you explain the difference between the two?
Also, doesn't the NE corridor count as a 'true electric interurban'?

It's what you would call continuous electrification, although I am not positive its all overhead. It seems like there may be sections of third rail.

It's not what you would call an interurban. The NE corridor is really a heavily travelled, multi-train passenger rail corridor along a megalopolis spine of extremely high population and between very large cities and their respective suburbs (nowadays almost completely uninterupted). Multicar trains and infrastructure to handle high speeds(but could still be much much better—look to Europe or Japan for what we should be capable of.)

Whereas an interurban was traditionally a slower speed network connecting larger cities to smaller cities and towns in an immediate region, and often travelling through rural stretches and towns to reach those places. The equipment was/is usually single to 3-4 cars max. The rail infrastructure also was/is not geared for high speeds and has a much less "constructed" presence, as typified by the South Shore as it travels past the dunes. The homemade nature of the South Shore in these areas are what gives it its' magic for me.

Historical examples in the midwest include... Illinois Terminal (St. Louis to smaller downstate cities like Peoria, C-U, B-N, Springfield, Alton, etc.), The Chicago, Aurora and Elgin, The North Shore Line(unique for actually running on the elevated to get downtown), Indiana Railroad.

Any site or book that tells the story of Samual Insull tells the story of the electric interurban as he was extremely instrumental in their development.

[pottebaum]

Historic Uptown may get an encore at last
Interested firms large enough to restore landmark

December 1, 2006

BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/156561,CST-NWS-uptown01.article

The landmark Uptown Theatre, 4816 N. Broadway, has been mostly unused for 25 years. Community-based plans for a revival foundered because little but hope was behind them.
Now, the Uptown has another chance. This one involves prospective buyers with money and, maybe, a real plan for putting the huge auditorium to use.

Two companies that specialize in concert promotions and large-scale entertainment, Live Nation Inc. and AEG, have examined the property, sources said.

Greg Harris, an aide to Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th), confirmed both companies' interest and said either or both are expected to submit a proposal in December. "These are major groups that have the financial capacity to do the job right," he said.

Harris said both would restore the 1925 building for its original use as a live performance venue.
The local aldermanic office is involved because city officials are pressuring the Uptown's owner to sell. The theater is controlled by Robert Lunn, a financial adviser forced into bankruptcy by creditors who accuse him of misusing their money.


Companies have venues here
The City Council has given Mayor Daley's administration authority to forcibly acquire the theater. Threatening condemnation was a tactic to force Lunn to accept an offer.
Harris said the city hopes a voluntary sale can be worked out. Lunn, he said, has voiced a willingness to cooperate.

Lunn did not return calls. Live Nation had no immediate comment and AEG did not respond to messages.

Live Nation bills itself as "the world's leading live entertainment company" and owns such local venues as the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park and the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis. For $354 million, Live Nation bought the House of Blues nightclub chain a month ago.

It also manages the bookings for the Charter One Pavilion on Northerly Island.

AEG owns Toyota Park in Bridgeview, home of another of its properties, the Chicago Fire, one of four Major League Soccer franchises it owns. It also owns the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and the Staples Center in Los Angeles.


Once part of thriving district
The city planning department declined to say if it has met with the companies. Spokeswoman Connie Buscemi said staffers "haven't seen any proposals yet but we look forward to doing so."
The department oversees landmark buildings and would review any zoning changes the site might need.

The Uptown was done in the Spanish Baroque style for the Balaban & Katz theater chain and anchored an entertainment district that thrived before World War II. It later showed movies and the occasional concert while suffering through a series of owners.

Lunn gained control of the building after the collapse of development ventures of a former business partner, Rudy Mulder. In 2002, Mulder was said to be offering the theater for $2.5 million.

droeder@suntimes.com

[Mr Downtown]

NICTD wouldn't want these new lines to be electrified?

Are you joking? These new lines are hard to justify as it is. Adding catenary and substations and electric locos or MU cars to run four trains a day would make it unbelievably expensive.

The justification for the South Shore electrification 100 years ago was that it was an interurban line being built through city streets, so it needed to run more like a streetcar than a steam train. The IC was electrified in 1926 because the city demanded it in an era of coal-burning steam locomotives, 10 tracks along the lakeshore, and hundreds of trains a day.

[VivaLFuego]

Are you joking? These new lines are hard to justify as it is. Adding catenary and substations and electric locos or MU cars to run four trains a day would make it unbelievably expensive.

The justification for the South Shore electrification 100 years ago was that it was an interurban line being built through city streets, so it needed to run more like a streetcar than a steam train. The IC was electrified in 1926 because the city demanded it in an era of coal-burning steam locomotives, 10 tracks along the lakeshore, and hundreds of trains a day.

So why do they maintain the catenary all the way out to South Bend? Why not switch to a system more like the Metro North or LIRR, switching to electric in the city but using diesel-electric in the outer reaches?

[Mr Downtown]

So why do they maintain the catenary all the way out to South Bend? Why not switch to a system more like the Metro North or LIRR, switching to electric in the city but using diesel-electric in the outer reaches?

Inertia, and the street running in Michigan City. For now, it's easier to maintain what Insull built than to order special locomotives or swap equipment partway out the line. When the overhead needs to be rebuilt--and that's coming soon--they'll have to decide whether to get a big federal pork-barrel grant, order new hybrid locomotives (like the New Haven used to have) that can run under wire north of Kensington, swap locomotives in Kensington or Michigan City, or put in exhaust fans under Millennium Park so they can use diesel locomotives all the way into Randolph Street.

[orulz]

Inertia, and the street running in Michigan City. For now, it's easier to maintain what Insull built than to order special locomotives or swap equipment partway out the line. When the overhead needs to be rebuilt--and that's coming soon--they'll have to decide whether to get a big federal pork-barrel grant, order new hybrid locomotives (like the New Haven used to have) that can run under wire north of Kensington, swap locomotives in Kensington or Michigan City, or put in exhaust fans under Millennium Park so they can use diesel locomotives all the way into Randolph Street.
NICTD advertised for bids on new rolling stock, and that new rolling stock is going to be bi-level EMUs similar to the new Highliners ordered by Metra Electric. That's a pretty solid commitment towards keeping the South Shore Line as an all-electric operation for at least a few decades to come.

[Mr Downtown]

Pretty easy to convert them them to unpowered trailers at the mid-life rebuild.

[Busy Bee]

I'm not sure if I can think of anything more depressing than the last electric interurban converting to diesel. The end of American wisdom as far as I'm concerned.

And about those new CSS&SB MU's... If they even try to stick us with those same lame ass cars that Metra just got I'm gonna have a fit. Metra Electric's old IC Highliners at least had some style to them, even more before they painted them all patriotic. Those new cars, besides looking just like the diesel coaches with pantographs, are the epitome of bore. Very little consideration of design went into that purchase. Can you imagine that POS design running under overhead in Europe, Japan or Taiwan? Its a rolling toolbox.

Oh and as long as we are on the subject, if these new SSL cars don't have a splash of orange on them I'm gonna flip. The old livery of orange and burgany looks friggin fantastic and they hardly emphasize it at all. These NICTD folks needs a lesson in brand development. Well, that goes for Metra too. Who designed that fugly logo anyway, the chairman's 11 year old daughter? Metra needs a makeover, and if it was me I'd adopt
C&NW's defunct Green and Yellow scheme in a heartbeat.

[Taft]

From the Trib today. The bottom part is the really interesting bit.

Taft



Presidential Towers on the block

BY SUSAN DIESENHOUSE
Published December 6, 2006

The latest major offering in the busy market for multifamily rental buildings is the four-building, 2,346-unit Presidential Towers complex in the West Loop. The mid-1980s era apartment property is owned by a unit of the Chicago-based Pritzker Realty Group LP.

What is likely to be one of the larger recent property sales comes as the Pritzker family seeks to liquidate its $15 billion-plus empire. The realty company's chief executive, Penny Pritzker, declined to comment.

The well-leased, 49-story high-rises are being put up for sale at a propitious time, explained Matthew D. Lawton, a senior managing director at Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, a mortgage banking firm.

"The downtown multifamily market is white hot," he said.

In the past 12 months, downtown apartment rents have increased 8 to 12 percent, while occupancy rates are in the mid-90 percent range.

When the rental market was weaker in the first half of 2002, "rents were dramatically lower and occupancy was in the low 80 percent range" when landlord concessions are included, Lawton said.

Five years ago, average rents for the best apartments ranged from about $1.85 to $2 square foot a month, he said, and now they're closer to $2.45 to $2.55.

Presidential Towers is not considered a Class A property because of its age, location and somewhat small units. The units fall somewhere between a Class A and Class B building, Lawton said.

While the total sales price it garners will be large, the price per square foot is not likely to surpass the $280,000 per apartment recently paid for 400 N. LaSalle St., said Lawton, who brokered that transaction.

One estimated price of about $450 million would be "aggressive pricing" based on the complex's features and location, he said. The West Loop is a popular new residential area but not a prime location.

"With a plethora of capital trying to purchase real estate, this is the best time since the 1920s to bring property to market," said Dan Fasulo, director of market research for Real Capital Analytics Inc.



BLEAK OUTLOOK: It might be the best of times for those selling large multifamily rental complexes, but for developers of new single-family houses and condominiums, it's still bleak, according to the latest market outlook from the Pacific Investment Management Co.

Sales volume and housing starts will continue to fall and drag down U.S. economic growth by at least 1 percent in 2007, said Scott Simon, a PIMCO managing director.

The good news, in his opinion, is that the lackluster housing sector will spur the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next year. The bad news is that housing prices, especially those for new residences, will decline.

Average sale prices in 2007 will drop by 1 percent compared to a likely 4.5 percent increase this year and a 13 percent rise in 2005 and '04, he said. "If we're wrong," said Simon, "it will be because things will get worse than we thought."

[VivaLFuego]

NICTD advertised for bids on new rolling stock, and that new rolling stock is going to be bi-level EMUs similar to the new Highliners ordered by Metra Electric. That's a pretty solid commitment towards keeping the South Shore Line as an all-electric operation for at least a few decades to come.
How many are they looking to procure? Is this just for fleet expansion or are they looking to start replacing the current stock from the 1980s?

[VivaLFuego]

I'm not sure if I can think of anything more depressing than the last electric interurban converting to diesel. The end of American wisdom as far as I'm concerned.

And about those new CSS&SB MU's... If they even try to stick us with those same lame ass cars that Metra just got I'm gonna have a fit. Metra Electric's old IC Highliners at least had some style to them, even more before they painted them all patriotic. Those new cars, besides looking just like the diesel coaches with pantographs, are the epitome of bore. Very little consideration of design went into that purchase. Can you imagine that POS design running under overhead in Europe, Japan or Taiwan? Its a rolling toolbox.

Oh and as long as we are on the subject, if these new SSL cars don't have a splash of orange on them I'm gonna flip. The old livery of orange and burgany looks friggin fantastic and they hardly emphasize it at all. These NICTD folks needs a lesson in brand development. Well, that goes for Metra too. Who designed that fugly logo anyway, the chairman's 11 year old daughter? Metra needs a makeover, and if it was me I'd adopt
C&NW's defunct Green and Yellow scheme in a heartbeat.
Get the CTA back to Mercury Green, Croyden Cream, and Swamp Holly Orange, all done up in Futura font, while we're at it.

[Mr Downtown]

I'm not sure if I can think of anything more depressing than the last electric interurban converting to diesel. The end of American wisdom as far as I'm concerned.
Nostalgia is not a good way to make public policy decisions. Except for the street running/braking issue in Michigan City, there's just not any good reason to stick with expensive, hard-to-maintain electrification. The pollution and energy efficiency and acceleration issues are substantially different now than in 1907.

Metra Electric's old IC Highliners at least had some style to them. . . Can you imagine that POS design running under overhead in Europe, Japan or Taiwan?

The new ones were designed in Japan. Other than Shinkansen sets and Kansai Electric Railway's Ra:pit trainsets, Japanese railways are not noted for railcar design.

But I agree with you that they're butt-ugly. In my opinion, the Highliners were a nice bit of industrial design, the end of the Loewy-Bel Geddes-Teague era of train design.

[Busy Bee]

^Yeah I forgot about them actually being Japanese built. Isn't it Kawasaki or KinkiSharyo? Anyways, I wouldn't neccessarily say they were "designed" in Japan though. The exteriors are virtually the same as the Pullman-Standard's from 40 years ago! I think Budd made some similar coaches too.

Here is a picture of CalTrain's redesigned trains that shhould enter service sometime in the near future. We should try to make a statement like these do:

http://sfcityscape.com/images/caltrain_future_2.jpg

[headcase]

Bertrand Goldberg's Marina City to be proposed for Landmark Designation

Tomorrow, Thursday December 7th, architect Lynette Stuhlmacher of Docomomo Midwest and Lisa DiChiera from Landmarks Illinois will recommend that Bertrand Goldberg's Marina City complex be designated an official city landmark.

One of the most important complex of buildings in Chicago's history, Marina City, best known for the iconic, 578-feet-tall twin "corncob" towers that have become an icon of the city throughout the world. One of the first true mixed-use develoments, it included an office building that is now the 367 room House of Blues Hotel. The House of Blues, itself, occupies the complex's theater. Marina City was the starting point of the back to the city movement that has revitalized Chicago's North Loop. The original skating rink is now a Smith and Wollensky steakhouse, but the complex still includes shops, restaurants, a health club a bowling alley, and a marina on the Chicago River. In October, recreating a stunt from Steve McQueen's last film, The Hunter, a car was driven off the 17th floor and crashed into the river below for an upcoming commercial for Allstate Insurance.

Read the rest here (http://arcchicago.blogspot.com/2006/12/bertrand-goldbergs-marina-city-to-be.html)

SSDD

[headcase]

Sears' flagship store to house Web center

Sears Holdings Corp. plans to turn the fourth floor of its State Street flagship store into a Web development center aimed at invigorating the retailer's online business.

The Loop center is scheduled to open in March and employ up to 100 workers, including software developers, project managers and technical architects. The center will quadruple the number of workers dedicated to Sears' e-commerce site.

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The Hoffman Estates-based retailer hopes that by setting up a Silicon Valley-style office in the heart of downtown Chicago, it will attract a new generation of high-tech, creative, urban talent that would otherwise avoid the long trek to the northwest suburbs.

Sears joins the likes of other old-line companies, including Motorola Inc., Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and PepsiCo Inc., that have recently established innovation centers in the city in an attempt to keep on the cutting edge of their industries.

"We want to create this high-tech, high-energy, innovative, open-space environment," said Rob Mills, vice president of technology at Sears. "We're trying to create an environment to drive innovation and creativity."


Read the rest (http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0612070160dec07,1,5732419.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true)

[Mr Downtown]

Ironic for a company that moved to Hoffman Estates to shed its urban workforce.

[Marcu]

I'm guessing we'll see more and more of this as the baby boomers retire. Companies will need to replace their workforce and many people in their 30s and even late 20s will find themselves filling positions that were previously filled by people in their 50s. There's a huge shortage of experienced workers on the horizon...

[VivaLFuego]

From my window it looks like Parkside at Old Town is U/C, I think I see some foundation equipment. Here's hoping the first building is successful and soon Division and surrounding streets are lined with dense multi-story, multi-unit housing.

[forumly_chgoman]

This is awesome news !!! I saw the headline in the paper the other day and just assumed it was a gimmick for their retail store on State, but upon reading it, it is confirmation that there is a definate trend happening with Suburban companies needing Loop offices to attract young workers.Which to me just adds to my bewilderment why Sara Lee left the loop for the burbs....just as well I didn't take a job with them DT after I interivewed w/ them a few years ago


there going against the tide -- a lot of creative type are eschewing the isolation, uniformity, banality of the burb for a more intense experience in the city

[Marcu]

Goldman to buy Hancock Center

Chicago’s Golub could join firm in $385-million deal
(Crain's) — Shorenstein Properties LLC has agreed to sell the John Hancock Center to Goldman Sachs & Co.’s Whitehall Fund for $385 million, a price that substantially surpasses expectations, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
After three rounds of heated bidding, Whitehall was selected on Friday. The firm, with about $30 billion in real estate, almost immediately made a more than $20-million, non-refundable deposit. An announcement could come next week, with the sale closing next month.

Representatives of New York-based Goldman, San Francisco-based Shorenstein and New York-based Eastdil Secured LLC, which is brokering the sale, decline to comment.

When it appeared in August that Shorenstein might sell, observers believed the Hancock would fetch $350 million at most. But in the final round, several offers were in the $380-million range, sources say.

The 100-story structure is the latest office tower this year to attract a top-dollar price, following such high-profile sales as 131 S. Dearborn St. ($560 million); Prudential Plaza ($470 million), and 1 S. Dearborn St. ($350 million).

But to reach such prices, some buyers are jacking up the risks, either by piling on debt or by relying on rosy predictions that could be their undoing in the event of a downturn, some observers say.
“All this capital is chasing all sorts of real estate in the hopes that cash flows will continue to increase over the next year,” says M. W. “Sam” Davis, senior managing director of real estate for Allstate Corp. in Northbrook. “There are clearly concerns that the economy is slowing.”

The Hancock’s price is extraordinary for a building where the office vacancy rate is 25%. At $385 million, Whitehall can expect an initial return of about 5%, based on a current annual net operating income of $21.1 million, sources say. The firm is negotiating with Chicago developer Golub & Co. to be its local partner, sources say.

Whitehall’s plans to boost the Hancock’s income couldn’t be learned. But other bidders considered several strategies, including dividing the building into separate ownership units — one for the retail space, another for the garage, for example — and selling them piecemeal, sources say. Another option would be turning the vacant offices into a hotel.

And there is a chance that an office tenant could emerge, such as Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which is looking for about 100,000 square feet.

[the urban politician]

Planned for near 28th and Halsted:

http://www.stonepointcondominiums.com/images/bldng.jpg

[honte]

^ http://www.stonepointcondominiums.com/

[kayosthery]

Excavation started on November 27. The foundation consists of a 4' thick mat slab with deeper portions for elevator pits and the crane pad. These were taken December 11, 2006, while the mud slab was being poured.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/kayosthery_photos/1f01be78-2.jpg
Looking Northeast with River Rd. in the background.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/kayosthery_photos/1f01be78-1.jpg
Looking Southeast.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/kayosthery_photos/1f01be78.jpg
Looking East.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/kayosthery_photos/2e5b4c8b.jpg
To the South.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/kayosthery_photos/12-11-06LeMeridienmudslabpourandSit.jpg
Another to the South / Southeast.

[honte]

^ Thanks for the photos.

[Chicago Shawn]

^Oh, cool. So that is where its going. That 60's office building in the background with the diamond shaped windows is inside Chicago City Limits. The city has a 1/2 block wide stretch of land at Foster Avenue linking O'Hare to the rest of the city.

[Marcu]

Every time I drive down the Kennedy (I90) I ask myself is thing Chicago, Des Plaines, or Rosemont? Can someone explain where all those office buildings are located?

[jpIllInoIs]

^ In general, the cluster at I-90 & River Road is Rosemont, while the cluster at I-90 & Cumberland Ave is Chicago.

[Chicago2020]

Ambitious idea to unite lakefront no small plan
By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 13, 2006


Chicago should acquire more lakefront and create land where none is available as it pushes to complete the chain of parks along the South Shore, a prominent advocacy group is proposing.

Friends of the Parks has begun shopping an ambitious series of plans to give the public access to more than 2 miles of South Side lakefront currently off limits.

After meeting with Chicago Park District Supt. Tim Mitchell Tuesday, the group will make its pitch for the multimillion-dollar expansion in meetings and exhibits around the city.

Between 71st and 75th Streets, where the lakefront is occupied by residences, one idea is to use landfill to create islands--an archipelago connected by bridges that would allow the public to get around one of the last privately held stretches of shoreline, south to Rainbow Beach.

At the next gap in the chain of parks, the former USX property, about 123 acres has been set aside for a lakefront path, said Friends of the Parks President Erma Tranter. But because residents feel that stretch would be too narrow, the group's plan calls for building out into the lake and creating beaches.

Farther south, more than 40 acres at the mouth of the Calumet River designated as a confined disposal facility are expected to become park property once the facility is filled with dredge material and capped.


A larger Calumet Park

The Friends of the Parks proposal calls for the city to negotiate with the Illinois International Port District for adjacent green space that is unused, allowing the Park District to double the size of the heavily used Calumet Park.

Mitchell said he would wait for Friends of the Parks to present two or three plans with the most community support, likely this summer. With those plans in hand, he said he would go to federal and state officials to seek funding.

"This fits into thinking about the generations that have come before us," Tranter said. "We're starting to rethink this generation and future generations' responsibility to complete" the city's lakefront park system.

Only 4 out of the city's 30 miles of lakefront are needed to fulfill Daniel Burnham's 1909 vision of an entirely public lakefront. The latest plans would account for more than 2 miles on the South Side.

But they avoid the thorny issue of nearly 2 miles of private beaches on the North Side along the Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods.

Rogers Park activists have fought off attempts to build marinas both in the neighborhood and in Evanston next-door. In 2004, they helped pass an advisory referendum proposal opposing an extension of Lake Shore Drive on landfill.

Some observers fear residents to the south might have similar objections to the Friends of the Parks plan to create parkland east of private lakefront.


Islands seen as problematic

"Everything sounds doable except the islands," said Peter Skosey of the Metropolitan Planning Council. "They're going to have the same problems as they did on the North Side."

But, he added, "sometimes the public good outweighs the private interest," and the city should look at acquiring land.

"It may be cheaper than landfills," Skosey said.

Park District officials said they encourage the group's efforts to build consensus.

Leaders of Friends of the Parks said they began looking at how to complete the lakefront park system in hopes that they could take advantage of momentum created by several development efforts in the South Shore and South Chicago area.

The Chicago Deptartment of Transportation plans to begin work in the summer on a $60 million project to relocate U.S. Highway 41 several blocks east from its current path, where it jogs south and east between 79th and 92nd Streets.

The city is also working with developers on plans for the former USX property, and the Park District hopes to release a new harbor study calling for a marina at the site.

If the park extension were approved, it would also help mark the 100th anniversary of Burnham's plan.

Friends of the Parks officials said they had learned in public meetings that the community wants more than the 123 acres allotted for parks at the USX site.

The organization held meetings with the community and, working with volunteer architects, community members proposed adding landfills at the former steel site to create more beaches and form 200 acres of parkland.

The group is also suggesting the creation of a lagoon that would include the new marina.

Visiting lake can be difficult

Karen Roothaan, a member of the Bush Homeowners and Tenants Association, lives a block from the steel mill's entrance on 86th Street. She walks a mile to the beach at Calumet Park, which is almost always crowded, or has to go farther north to Rainbow Beach. A 7-foot wall keeps residents from the lakefront.

"There are people in the neighborhood who don't know that there is a lake out there," she said.

But new landfills would be challenging because of the federal approvals that may be required, such as those from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Skosey said. He suggested park advocates first try negotiating to acquire more land from the developers.

Another proposal called for a museum on the site commemorating the heavy industry and influence of steel-making on the Southeast Side community.

Based on community suggestions, the Friends of the Parks proposes doubling Calumet Park south of the Calumet River and adding seating area and vistas to the city's skyline, as well as more ballfields.

The most controversial piece of the proposal is the series of islands proposed north of Rainbow Beach. The islands would allow residents to keep private beaches.

They would include natural areas, a continuation of the bike trail connected by bridges, and allow for residents using boats to move easily into the open lake, Tranter said.

Still, this portion of the proposal has not been well received by residents, who worry about privacy and views. In a meeting five weeks ago, 100 people living in the stretch between 71st and 75th turned out.

"It was bruising," Tranter said.

[spyguy]

http://midwest.construction.com/news/building/default.asp

Retail, Restaurants Planned For Former Esquire Site

Chicago-based M Development, owner of the Esquire Theater on Oak Street, has announced that it is planning to replace the theater with one or more new buildings in keeping with Oak Street's prevailing architecture and character.

The tenants will include retailers and restaurants.

Situated between Michigan Avenue and State Street and between Bellevue and Walton, Oak Street is home to fashion boutiques and high-end personal service providers including well-known beauty salons and spas.

[Busy Bee]

In 10 to 20 years these people will be kicking themselves for building some neo-trad garbage instead of recycling the Esquires' facade.

[Busy Bee]

"Everything sounds doable except the islands," said Peter Skosey of the Metropolitan Planning Council. "They're going to have the same problems as they did on the North Side."

Someone should tell him what they're doing in Dubai. After seeing that, I think doing some man-made islands here should be a piece-a-cake.

[the urban politician]

These fuckwad NIMBY's are too funny. Read and laugh (or cry) at this pitiful, mindless nonsense:

http://www.chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=25&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=2488&TM=83777.48
Bank shrinks Ashland plan
American Eagle Bank says plan may change again

By BILL MAYEROFF, Contributing Writer


Residents of the Chicago-Grand area expressed concern at a meeting last Thursday that a proposed bank at 700 N. Ashland will be too tall and contribute to parking problems in the area.

Though residents were concerned about a lack of parking, architect Peter Mayer of Mayer Jeffers Gillespie Architects said the plans include an underground parking garage for people living in the 27 residential units that will sit on top of the American Eagle Bank headquarters.

http://www.chicagojournal.com/ftp/webimages/bank.jpg

"The bulk of the parking is reached by a one-way ramp off the alley ," said Mayer, adding that the parking garage will exit onto Superior. In addition, he said, 15 parking spaces will be marked for neighborhood use. First Ward Alderman Manny Flores would like to see most of the spaces dedicated to the Erie Neighborhood House at 1701 W. Superior, along with two spaces dedicated to the I-Go Car Sharing program.

"I can tell you, we've been very bullish on this in the First Ward," Flores said. "It's another tool in the toolbox."

Flores asked the bank to include public parking in its plan, but it will not eliminate all the parking problems in the area, he said. Though residents were concerned that the development might cause some traffic problems, Mayer and Flores were confident that it would not.

"It's the type of traffic that would flow," Flores said.

The new plan dropped a story from the original planned six-story building, and Mayer says the top floor in the new proposal will not be a full floor.

"There is a partial fifth floor," Mayer said, adding that only the fourth-floor condominiums will have access to it and that it is set back from the street and will open onto a private roof deck.

[B]But one resident was concerned that even a partial fifth floor will make the building too big. Peter Frisbee, who lives at 1817 W. Ohio, says that if the bank is allowed to build a five-story building, it would set a precedent for development on Ashland. :help:

"I don't know how you're addressing this, but you're really opening up a Pandora's Box," Frisbee said. "Five stories is too big."

Frisbee said he believes that if the bank insists on having a partial fifth floor, it needs to be set back farther from Ashland. He also expressed concerns that the bank was not adhering to zoning codes. "The problem is that no one can seem to stick to the zoning code as is," he said after the meeting.

Frisbee was not alone in his concern.

Bart Lysy, who lives across from the nearby Goldblatts Building, said by phone Monday that he went out to the site to imagine what it might look like when complete.

(But wait guys, it gets better, check this out):

"I suppose that when it's actually there, it will look quite large," he said. "I'm sure it's going to change the scale of the area." He also thinks the city should have looked at options other than a bank for the site.

"My personal opinion is that we don't need another bank," he said. "We need a good library." But Lysy believes the architect did what he could to make the building seem less imposing and that it would be fairly simple to reduce the height. "They could reduce the height by just eliminating the duplex," he said. :koko:

Brian Podszuweit, who lives down the block from the site, said he's not worried.

"It's huge," Podszuweit said after the meeting. "It's a beautiful building."

He said he would rather see a bigger, well-designed building there than vacant lots. The site currently houses a used car dealership and an empty lot that is slated to be turned into three single-family houses. Podszuweit said he is not afraid of more five-story buildings appearing in the area.

"If they all are built with the architectural detail this is, I'm all for it," he said.

Flores also disagreed with Frisbee's assessment, saying that if there were no plans for a bank at that site, it would become a five or six story parking garage.

"That's the context in which this development was created," Flores said, adding that there is a restrictive covenant in the plan that requires the bank to build it exactly as renderings show.

"All things being equal, I think this development strikes the balance we're looking for," Flores said. But he said after the meeting that all the different opinions must be considered before approving the plans.

"You need to be thoughtful; take your time on the development," Flores said. "What the building will look like is an important consideration."

American Eagle Bank president Gregory Whipple agreed and said all opinions would be considered before finalizing anything.

"It's personal taste," Whipple said. "We can tweak this a little bit." He added that because of suggestions from residents, there will likely be a coffee shop in the retail space in the lot north of the alley - but not a Starbucks.

"We'd kind of like to have more of a local flavor," Whipple said.

[Chicago Shawn]

Bart Lysy, who lives across from the nearby Goldblatts Building, said by phone Monday that he went out to the site to imagine what it might look like when complete.

(But wait guys, it gets better, check this out):

"I suppose that when it's actually there, it will look quite large," he said. "I'm sure it's going to change the scale of the area." He also thinks the city should have looked at options other than a bank for the site.

"My personal opinion is that we don't need another bank," he said. "We need a good library." But Lysy believes the architect did what he could to make the building seem less imposing and that it would be fairly simple to reduce the height. "They could reduce the height by just eliminating the duplex," he said. :koko:




Says the person who lives across from the largest and tallest building in the immedaite area. Its either a 4 story building with high ceilings or 5 stories all together, I have been in there when it was owned and operated by the city (It may still be). So what if Ashland is lined with 5 story buildings, Its a wide arterial street, which will offset any canyonization feeling that could occur. If you don't like this tiny increase in density, go back to what ever suburb you came from. Let the city be a city.

[VivaLFuego]

Says the person who lives across from the largest and tallest building in the immedaite area. Its either a 4 story building with high ceilings or 5 stories all together, I have been in there when it was owned and operated by the city (It may still be). So what if Ashland is lined with 5 story buildings, Its a wide arterial street, which will offset any canyonization feeling that could occur. If you don't like this tiny increase in density, go back to what ever suburb you came from. Let the city be a city.

Yeah, plus Ashland gets pretty barren and desolate and definitely very unfriendly to pedestrians as you go south from Chicago. Bring on more 4-5 story developments lining the street! If these people want street retail (maybe they don't), then they need to accept growing densities.

[forumly_chgoman]

^^^I am all for ashland being lined with 4 -8 story building from 39th at least north to rosehill and maybe even devon

c'mon it is like the second most busy thoroughfare in chicgao after western

not only should there be these building but there should be a subway lining it all the way north - south.....imagine the possibiltities....and I do not want to hear about the cost....we just spent 495,000,000,000....yes that is right 495,000,000,000 up to the end of november ....since 9/11 on ineffectual homeland security....instead use 1% of that and employee a few thousand people to build a subway in arguably the second most important city in the damn country....boy that would not make any sense now would it

[brian_b]

I think a little chain of islands would be cool. I also would like to see the continuity of parks continue all the way down to the Indiana state line. But I have one concern. From the sounds of the terraforming they are proposing, some of that parkland could actually sprout out far enough into the lake and cross the state line in Indiana. Is there any issue with that? I mean, there's not a single doubt whatsoever that Indiana would allow it, but what about the administrative aspects of it? Who pays for maintenance? What if someone gets hurt on the Indiana side of the park? etc, etc.

Given that the communities bordering the lake on the Indiana side are working to reclaim more lakeshore as parkland, it would be great if the lakefront path goes all the way through and into the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I already love biking on the south side part of the path, extending all the way there would be fantastic.

[honte]

Ugh. Chicago seems to be turning into the rest of the nation's backoffice. It's kind of depressing, even if no jobs are lost.

[the urban politician]

Ugh. Chicago seems to be turning into the rest of the nation's backoffice. It's kind of depressing, even if no jobs are lost.

^ While I can understand why there are fears of such a thing happening, I must dispute this. I have read some evidence (a few years old, albeit) that despite losing Fortune 500 headquarters, Chicago has actually been gaining HQ of large corporations (greater than 1000 employees) rather than losing them.

The really really big corporations aren't really tied to a city or regional economy anyhow. Look at Berkshire Hathaway. Once you are as large and important as United, Boeing, or Walmart, I can't imagine there being as much of a need to be in the downtown or even very near a major city.

Anyhow, I don't want to take this thread too far away from what it's intended to be--a development thread.

[honte]

Yes, it's true, Chicago is actually doing well in the HQ game, but our biggest and best-known names do not fit into that category.

Spending time downtown tonight, the local flavor has definitely been swept away from a lot of our city already. The obnoxious displays at Macy's that correlate with a Broadway show in NY and have nothing to do with Chicago, the terrible renovation Chase gave to the former Bank One building, &c.

[wrabbit]

...the terrible renovation Chase gave to the former Bank One building, &c...

The lobby reconfigure?

[the urban politician]

Yes, it's true, Chicago is actually doing well in the HQ game, but our biggest and best-known names do not fit into that category.

Spending time downtown tonight, the local flavor has definitely been swept away from a lot of our city already. The obnoxious displays at Macy's that correlate with a Broadway show in NY and have nothing to do with Chicago, the terrible renovation Chase gave to the former Bank One building, &c.

^ And I'll never get over the "Broadway in Chicago" moniker. All of this shit screams "if you can't afford New York, come to Chicago".

[honte]

The lobby reconfigure?

Yes, sorry, I wasn't clear. I thought the old lobby was the essence of urban chic. This new, dark wood-paneled thing is so tacky, suburban, and ignorant of the architecture in which it resides. I realize the old lobby was a bit worn, but it felt like a real bank, you know? And really classy too.

At least they kind of kept the feeling of that great floating ceiling, with the lights that seem to go on endlessly...

[spyguy]

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=27002&bt=solo+cup&arc=n&searchType=all

Deal near for Solo Cup land
McCaffery, Forest City vie for S. Side property

By Alby Gallun

City officials are close to picking a developer for part of the former South Works steel mill site on the far South Side — a decision that would be a major step forward for the long-awaited redevelopment project.

The city is evaluating plans for the 118-acre tract originally slated for a 1,000-job Solo Cup Co. factory. The finalists are two developers: Chicago's McCaffery Interests Inc., which leads a joint venture that controls the northern part of the South Works site, and Forest City Enterprises Inc., a Cleveland developer.

Both developers propose a mix of residential and retail space. Solo, which owns the property, and city officials have been mulling over what to do with it since Solo scrapped its factory plans last year. "We have received proposals from both McCaffery and Forest City," a Solo spokeswoman says.

A spokeswoman for the city's Department of Planning and Development did not respond to calls.

U.S. Steel Corp. shut down the mill in 1992. The vacant site covers an area larger than the Loop, making its redevelopment one of the city's largest real estate projects in years.

McCaffery, whose projects include the Loop's Hotel Burnham and Nike Town on North Michigan Avenue, would be a logical buyer for the Solo parcel, considering McCaffery leads a joint venture that controls about 275 acres to the north. The venture plans to build as many as 7,000 housing units and 600,000 square feet of retail space, an effort that could take 10 to 20 years.

Forest City, meanwhile, is one of the area's busiest developers. A public company with $1.2 billion in annual revenue, Forest City is a partner in the Central Station project in the South Loop, is revamping the old G. D. Searle & Co. campus in Skokie and has drawn up plans for shopping centers in New Lenox and Sugar Grove.

A spokeswoman says Forest City specializes in complex mixed-use developments like the one at South Works. "The challenge . . . is right up Forest City's alley," she says.

Whichever developer ends up with the Solo site, it's crucial that the plans are integrated with those for the northern parcel, says McCaffery President Daniel McCaffery. "It's going to have to be brought along in a comprehensive manner," he says.

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/2048/27002jo9.gif

[VivaLFuego]

^ I hope they plan some lakefront highrises for the solo cup site, those would have some pretty awesome views. Transit accessibility on the western end of that site is decent with the South Chicago line

[Busy Bee]

^But would be even better with the Gray Line.

[the urban politician]

My new transit wishlist:

1) Circle Line
2) Some sort of subway or light rail connecting Union Station with River North/Streeterville/Navy Pier and other L lines nearby
3) Convert the Metra Electric into a CTA Gray Line

Santa, please hurry down the chimney with those. Thanks :)

[DaleAvella]

^ And I'll never get over the "Broadway in Chicago" moniker. All of this shit screams "if you can't afford New York, come to Chicago".

Although it is not unique to Chicago. Broadway in Chicago is a product of Nederlander, which also controls besides several NYC theatres, Broadway in LA, Broadway San Diego, Broadway in Knoxville--and Clear Channel (based in San Antonio).

Not to distract from "general development" but I think names are important in development and city identity.

[DaleAvella]

My new transit wishlist:
3) Convert the Metra Electric into a CTA Gray Line


I would have some reservations about CTA taking over management of transit from Metra!

[Marcu]

I would have some reservations about CTA taking over management of transit from Metra!

Yeah that's a definite no. The last thing we need is constant derailments, slow zones, and 40 or so incompetent cta personnel hanging around stations doing nothing on a regular basis.

[spyguy]

State and Illinois - yes I think there is retail TUP :)
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9657/stateilqu9.jpg

Weiss Architecture

[honte]

^ What an insane waste of a prime development site!!!?

[Marcu]

State and Illinois - yes I think there is retail TUP :)
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9657/stateilqu9.jpg

Weiss Architecture

Looks like something out of the south loop. A few exra floors wouldn't hurt.

[pottebaum]

Any word on what's going in the Carson's building?

[brian_b]

In Chicago, the largest gain was recorded on the Near West Side, where 1,765 homes changed hands, up from 1,342 a year earlier, an increase of 423 transactions (or 31.5 percent).

Chicago's Near South Side neighborhood saw sales increase by 315 transactions (a gain of 36.8 percent over the prior year).


That's excellent news. Though you have to wonder how much more improvement the Near West Side would have seen if the NIMBYs weren't so successful in keeping tall buildings away. Or, dare I say, did the forced constraints in supply help keep the demand higher?

[Loopy]

Any word on what's going in the Carson's building?
Well, as you know, it is owned by Joseph Freed, the same group that now controls the retail at 108 North State. So, the only thing that anybody knows right now, is that it will include whatever retail concept is complementary to 108 North State.

This scenario is more desirable than the property's current mission, in my book.

[denizen467]

the property's current mission
meaning, housing a Carson's? why, because Carson's is downscale? (i actually think that first floor currently is a bit dank for a splendid state street space.)

[VivaLFuego]

That's excellent news. Though you have to wonder how much more improvement the Near West Side would have seen if the NIMBYs weren't so successful in keeping tall buildings away. Or, dare I say, did the forced constraints in supply help keep the demand higher?

I have a strong suspicion this "Near West Side" is including the ultra-hot Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village/Noble Square area.

[brian_b]

I have a strong suspicion this "Near West Side" is including the ultra-hot Wicker Park/Ukrainian Village/Noble Square area.

I'm nearly positive those neighborhoods are in the West Town Community Area 24 rather than the Near West Side Comminuty Area 28.

[VivaLFuego]

I'm nearly positive those neighborhoods are in the West Town Community Area 24 rather than the Near West Side Comminuty Area 28.

Correct, but the article didn't say it was referring to community areas, and I'll believe my own eyes before I believe a newspaper article.

[brian_b]

Correct, but the article didn't say it was referring to community areas, and I'll believe my own eyes before I believe a newspaper article.


Good point :)

I just went in an recreated their research (took me about 45 seconds...) and I came up with 1764 sales in the Near West Side #28 for the first 9 months of 2006. So I think they are actually talking about the Community Areas themselves.

[VivaLFuego]

Good point :)

I just went in an recreated their research (took me about 45 seconds...) and I came up with 1764 sales in the Near West Side #28 for the first 9 months of 2006. So I think they are actually talking about the Community Areas themselves.

Interesting. What's the total sales for the West Town community area then? I know the West Town community area is demolishing all others in terms of demo and construction permits issued...