CHICAGO | General Developments [Archive]

Chicago Shawn

05-16-2006, 01:15 AM

Greedy Bastards...

one point though, if they do get a big payoff, all the proceeds should be earmared for the Chicago region. No way should this be used to widen i55 from
Springfield to St Louis .:( or any other bullshit down state project.
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Lawmakers want to earmark tollway lease money

By John Biemer
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 15, 2006, 3:12 PM CDT

Responding to talk in Springfield of leasing the Illinois tollway to a private company for billions of dollars, two Republican suburban state senators said today the bulk of any such money should be committed to counties traversed by toll roads.

Senators Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) and Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton) said it would be a "disaster for suburban taxpayers and communities" if the process is politicized and the money—estimated at more than $14 billion—is allocated disproportionately to the city of Chicago.
Dillard and Roskam introduced legislation earlier this month requiring that 66 percent of the lease price be used for projects or purposes benefiting counties traversed by tollways.
"During the gubernatorial campaign we need to watch Gov. Blagojevich very closely," Dillard said outside the tollway's Downers Grove headquarters. "Suburbanites should be outraged that decades of their nickels and dimes might be used to bail out Chicago Public Schools, especially since no tollway runs through the city of Chicago."

State Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston), who heads appropriations and revenue forecasting panels, has floated the idea of privatizing state toll roads. His idea came after Mayor Richard Daley's 99-year, $1 billion lease with a private firm to run the Chicago Skyway and collect tolls there.

Roskam is running in the west suburban 6th District to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), and today's event was organized by his campaign. The National Republican Congressional Committee has advised its candidates to focus on local issues.

Typical suburban republicans. Its not 'decades of nickels and dimes' from suburbanites that creates the 14 billion from leasing the toll road, what a total load of bull shit. The 14 billion will come from a PRIVATE firm interested in purchasing the roadway. The 'decades of nickels and dimes' have only paid for road improvements on the tollway system and the construction of the extreamly wastefull tollway authority headquaters in Downer's Grove. I agree a leasing deal should be used to bennifit the Chicago region, but to oppose the use of these new funds to help a broken school system, which the suburbs have helped create is disgustingly selfish. True, no toll road under the management of the tollway authority exists within Chicago's city limits, but hello, most of the roads LEAD INTO THE CITY, and would not exist without the city serving as the the hub of the regional spoke expressway system.

And you know what, many of the regional tollyway miles are in Cook County anyway (I-90, I-94 Edens Spur, I-294, section of I-355 extension), so thier point doesn't really make any sense. Just stirring up the me, me, me attitude among suburban constituants that the big bad city is out to rob them of thier precoius nickels and dimes. Doesn't really suprise me though, this is the typical attitude I expect from DuPage County.

VivaLFuego

05-16-2006, 03:26 AM

Typical suburban republicans. Its not 'decades of nickels and dimes' from suburbanites that creates the 14 billion from leasing the toll road, what a total load of bull shit. The 14 billion will come from a PRIVATE firm interested in purchasing the roadway. The 'decades of nickels and dimes' have only paid for road improvements on the tollway system and the construction of the extreamly wastefull tollway authority headquaters in Downer's Grove. I agree a leasing deal should be used to bennifit the Chicago region, but to oppose the use of these new funds to help a broken school system, which the suburbs have helped create is disgustingly selfish. True, no toll road under the management of the tollway authority exists within Chicago's city limits, but hello, most of the roads LEAD INTO THE CITY, and would not exist without the city serving as the the hub of the regional spoke expressway system.

And you know what, many of the regional tollyway miles are in Cook County anyway (I-90, I-94 Edens Spur, I-294, section of I-355 extension), so thier point doesn't really make any sense. Just stirring up the me, me, me attitude among suburban constituants that the big bad city is out to rob them of thier precoius nickels and dimes. Doesn't really suprise me though, this is the typical attitude I expect from DuPage County.

Not to mention when we city folk are unfortunate enough to have to drive out there and use a tollway, we pay twice as much in tolls because we don't have an IPASS.

Liz

05-16-2006, 05:05 AM

Typical suburban republicans. Its not 'decades of nickels and dimes' from suburbanites that creates the 14 billion from leasing the toll road, what a total load of bull shit. The 14 billion will come from a PRIVATE firm interested in purchasing the roadway. The 'decades of nickels and dimes' have only paid for road improvements on the tollway system and the construction of the extreamly wastefull tollway authority headquaters in Downer's Grove. I agree a leasing deal should be used to bennifit the Chicago region, but to oppose the use of these new funds to help a broken school system, which the suburbs have helped create is disgustingly selfish. True, no toll road under the management of the tollway authority exists within Chicago's city limits, but hello, most of the roads LEAD INTO THE CITY, and would not exist without the city serving as the the hub of the regional spoke expressway system.

And you know what, many of the regional tollyway miles are in Cook County anyway (I-90, I-94 Edens Spur, I-294, section of I-355 extension), so thier point doesn't really make any sense. Just stirring up the me, me, me attitude among suburban constituants that the big bad city is out to rob them of thier precoius nickels and dimes. Doesn't really suprise me though, this is the typical attitude I expect from DuPage County.

neither 355 or 294 lead into the city, if anything they help people aviod driving through the city, which is convienant when you're going from a far west burb to a far north burb. and even though those people with out Ipass may have ot pay the occasional double amount, paying $.80 to $2 a day in tolls adds up over time and I don't think its unreasonable for people paying into the system to want the profits from leasing of the system to go into expansion (355 to 80 or 355 to 294) and to benefit them personally. hoenstly I can see this from either side, many users of the tollway aren't driving into the city and rather are commuting between different surburbs, and both sides are benefitting from each other in different ways.

Latoso

05-16-2006, 07:07 AM

"Suburbanites should be outraged that decades of their nickels and dimes might be used to bail out Chicago Public Schools, especially since no tollway runs through the city of Chicago."

It looks like I-294 passes through Chicago City limits to me, even if it's only for about a block across the strip that connects O'Hare to the rest of the city.

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/1884/mapwebmapquestcom6yj.gif

jpIllInoIs

05-16-2006, 01:21 PM

Good idea for a thread Lukecuj! I had no idea how many development issues were not being discussed. As long as it is not repeating anything from the superb Over 12 stories/Under 12 stories threads and the general Chicago Transportation thread then..Rock on!

I agree in general that the money should be spent Regionally.. but this region has a poor track record for cooperation.

BTW. What did Chicago do with the money from leasing the Chicago Skyway? I doubt that it went into regional road funds. The best we can hope for is that it actually went into Chicago infrastructure programs. But more likely it is being used to pay for pensions and health care for city workers.

Chicago3rd

05-16-2006, 05:29 PM

Chi_Coruscant

05-16-2006, 10:11 PM

A blurb in breaking news section in today's Tribune webpage:

Meanwhile, the council's Buildings Committee advanced a proposal calling for the $2.15 million sale of a vacant, three-story commercial building at 212 S. State St. to the federal government. The city obtained the property for $1.52 million in 1997 to help spur a commercial development that never materialized, officials said.

If the full council approves the sale, the building will become one of seven acquired by the federal General Services Administration (GSA) along State between Adams Street and Jackson Boulevard.

The stretch is adjacent to the Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St., which is part of a federal campus that also includes the Kluczynski and Metcalfe Federal Buildings.

The GSA has "concepts" for the new site and expects to build 1.5 million square feet of additional space there in a time frame that will span roughly the next 20 years, officials said.

Chicago Shawn

05-16-2006, 11:48 PM

Wonder how much money goes from Cook County in gas taxes to the rest of the state? Bet you it is a sizable chunk. And don't get me going about why this state needs tollways...because the people south of I-80 felt it was wrong for them to help fund the roads in Chicago land. I wish we could find out how much of the Chicagoland money goes to funding their Interstates and Highways!!!

That is a very good point. Especially considering that the tollways are a self-supporting system which uses no tax payer money to maintain itself.

Hmmm,
Lets guess and say there are 2 million registered vehicles in Cook County, then multiply that times 20 gallons of gasoline @ $3.00 per gallon for each week, and multiply that figure by 52 for the yearly total.

Answer for my guestimated Cook County annual gasoline revenues = $6,240,000,000. Now what percentage of the gas price is state taxes?

VivaLFuego

05-17-2006, 04:35 AM

That is a very good point. Especially considering that the tollways are a self-supporting system which uses no tax payer money to maintain itself.

Hmmm,
Lets guess and say there are 2 million registered vehicles in Cook County, then multiply that times 20 gallons of gasoline @ $3.00 per gallon for each week, and multiply that figure by 52 for the yearly total.

Answer for my guestimated Cook County annual gasoline revenues = $6,240,000,000. Now what percentage of the gas price is state taxes?
So the gas tax per gallon should be calculated based on what roads you'll be driving on!

We begin to see the madness of having different government entities operate roadways...

It would be nice if the 6 county area could just secede from the rest of Illinois, they can't stand us and just leach off us anyway, so it would be win-win.

VivaLFuego

05-17-2006, 10:42 PM

City Closing $3M in Downtown Sales
By Mark Ruda Email this story | Printer-friendly | Reprints
CHICAGO-Two city-owned Downtown properties are closer to being sold in separate deals. One ultimately will expand the federal courthouse complex in the Central Loop while the other will provide more parking in the Theater District in the short term.

The federal government’s General Services Administration is paying more than $2.1 million for a 18,200-sf building at 212 S. State St. The GSA is spending $53 million Downtown for an expansion that could increase federal courthouse space by 1.5 million sf during the next 20 years. Meanwhile, the city is selling a 3,676-sf site at 174 W. Randolph St. for $1.2 million. A vacant, 17,500-sf building will be razed.

Both deals are expected to be approved by the city council this month.

A 75-space parking lot will be an interim use at 174 W. Randolph St. until Clovis Investments, LLC begins a mixed-use development involving that property as well as neighboring sites, at 178 and 180 W. Randolph St., it already controls. Joliet-based Clovis Investments has paid more than $3.2 million to acquire those two properties, which include a five-story, 47,900-sf office building.
Where are these Randolph developments in relation to Randolph tower? part of the same mixed use development?

Chicago Shawn

05-18-2006, 01:05 AM

VivaLFuego

05-18-2006, 03:36 AM

^Its right next door. There are three buildings between Randolph Tower and a State owned office building at Randolph and LaSalle. The group puchasing these three mid-block buildings plan to tear them down and pave a surface lot with some vegitation screening along the sidewalk; and then come back to the city with a high-rise plan for the site within the next two years. It is NOT part of the same plan to covert Randolph Tower to residentail uses. Thank goodness too, because no developer would put up a tall tower next to a building they are converting and obliterate all of the east facing views.

If the development plans fall through, the city will take the property back after 2 years for the original sale price.
Cool. I feel like since the Central Area Plan, the city's P&D is getting more serious about enforcing smart, dense development in the central area; no more (permanent) parking-only structures, buildings built up to the property line, sensible driveway placement, etc.

Interesting that that corner of the loop is getting alot of residential/mixed use all of a sudden. Though there are many surface lots in that neck of the woods too, its a shame that stuff will be torn down while there are empty lots begging to be developed.

VivaLFuego

05-18-2006, 07:47 PM

Yeah Mr. Figel, you own Grant Park and all the city streets. Jackass. Go back to Naperville.

Pandemonious

05-23-2006, 07:04 PM

Got any pictures of the Live Stock Nat'l Bank Bldg? I have never seen it before, and couldn't find anything with google.

Chi_Coruscant

05-27-2006, 07:26 PM

City rewriting its plans for the Loop
$400 million in bonds would bankroll transit, LaSalle Street rehab

May 27, 2006
By Greg Hinz
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=20782

City Hall is preparing to redraft its downtown development playbook with a series of new or revamped taxing districts, a $400-million bond issue and a revised plan for growth in the city's central core all on the drawing board.

Under serious review are proposals that could jump-start construction of a new transit line on the north bank of the Chicago River, revitalize the LaSalle Street office corridor and provide money for street beautification on the Near South Side.

Key business and civic figures familiar with the budding plans generally support what the city wants to do. But some caution that they will demand a much bigger voice in spending decisions than they've gotten in the past.

"If we're going to have to pay for it, we should be more involved in the governance and budget," says Gerald Roper, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. "That's a deal breaker."

A variety of factors are driving the action, including the city's need for cash after last year's failure to win approval of a special downtown property tax and the impending sunset of the Central Loop tax increment financing (TIF) district. The TIF has served as a cash cow for dozens of downtown projects for two decades and now provides nearly $100 million a year for development, but it's due to expire at the end of 2007.

Other pressure stems from a lack of action on the city's Central Area Plan. Unveiled with much fanfare three years ago, it envisioned a wide range of transit and other improvements, but mostly has collected dust.

Here's what insiders say the city is considering or already pursuing:

• Creating a new TIF district covering LaSalle Street south of the river, as well as portions of Wells and Franklin streets. A city spokeswoman confirms that the district could come to life soon and would be used, in part, to help owners of outmoded office buildings compete with newer towers along Wacker Drive and near the commuter railroad stations. The possible new district was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.

The TIF also could provide subsidies to help convert outdated Class C office buildings for hotel or residential use, as has happened in the East Loop, says Jon DeVries, director of Roosevelt University's School of Real Estate.

• Renewing all or part of the Central Loop TIF for another 23 years. While depriving schools and other taxing bodies of revenue, restoring the TIF would free up money for proposed city projects, such as the Monroe Street busway or the Carroll Street transit line between Navy Pier and the commuter railroad stations. Those were proposed in the Central Area Plan, but the city does not have money to pay for them.

Asked about the Central Loop TIF, the city's spokeswoman would say only that all options are under review.

• Issuing up to $400 million in bonds — funded by proceeds from the LaSalle TIF, a new Central Loop TIF and/or proceeds from the recently authorized sale or lease of three city parking garages — as early as the city's 2008 budget. That money could help Mayor Richard M. Daley as he prepares for a presumed re-election bid.

A city spokeswoman says "no one knows anything about a $400-million issue," but sources at City Hall and a business group say such discussions are occurring.

• Updating the Central Area Plan. The city is hiring a consultant to re-examine growth projections, create a lighting plan for Michigan Avenue buildings between Washington Street and Congress Parkway, and "explore potential funding mechanisms" for the Carroll Avenue line and other transit projects, according to a summary the city sent to potential bidders.

• Creating special service areas along LaSalle Street and in the South Loop to fund street beautification and perhaps other work. The city proposed such a property tax-funded district last year to finance operations at Millennium Park, but backed down after strong business opposition.

The potential for resistance remains.

"The city needs to give strong consideration to self-governance (of special districts) in order to gain support," says William Barnhoff, vice-president of the Chicago Development Council, a trade group.

VivaLFuego

05-27-2006, 10:23 PM

Great news that the city is taking iniative on that.....So many great recommendations in the Central Area Plan yet to be realized.

Rapid transit of some variety would be massively useful down Carrol and Monroe, both linking up to the commuter stations in west loop.

spyguy

05-27-2006, 10:33 PM

Updating the Central Area Plan. The city is hiring a consultant to re-examine growth projections, create a lighting plan for Michigan Avenue buildings between Washington Street and Congress Parkway, and "explore potential funding mechanisms" for the Carroll Avenue line and other transit projects, according to a summary the city sent to potential bidders.

All around sounds good

BVictor1

05-28-2006, 09:50 PM

Frankie

05-30-2006, 10:34 AM

Cicero Avenue about to take off?
May 30, 2006
BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter Advertisement

As a showcase for Chicago, Cicero Avenue just doesn't cut it.

The stretch of Cicero between the Stevenson Expy. and Midway Airport is one of the city's most heavily traveled arteries, with some 65,700 vehicles per day. It's the route Midway's arriving passengers take to get downtown and points beyond.

Cicero could exude a warm welcome. But right now, it's as if visitors to Chicago arrived through the host's broken-down back porch.

Parcels are empty, and some storefronts are neglected. Cheap motels overlook junkyards. And the presence on the street of a public housing complex, LeClaire Courts, with many boarded up units, has its own deadening effect.

Midway is a busy airport, so where's the economic spinoff? Drive south of the airport on Cicero and you encounter the Midway Hotel Center, a spic-and-span collection of seven national chains with parking all around. It's in Bedford Park, so none of its tax revenue goes to the city. Bedford Park also has drawn "big box" retailers nearby such as Wal-Mart and Costco.

Chicago officials hope to catch up with the tiny southwest suburb. Last year, consultants working for the city's Department of Planning and Development analyzed the Cicero corridor, and recommended an action plan. The agency is in the early stages of following up.

"Bedford Park has always had a mindset to catch the retail bleed from Chicago," said James Capraro, a co-author of the report and executive director of the Greater Southwest Development Corp. He said the city must work with private investors to make its part of Cicero a destination.

Connie Buscemi, spokeswoman for the planning department, said the street was among several sites the city touted during a recent retail industry convention in Las Vegas. "It attracted a lot of interest. The street is widely traveled, and delivers great exposure. This is what retailers are looking for," she said.

She said the city has held conversations with several developers. One, Centrum Properties, plans a commercial makeover at the northwest corner of Archer and Cicero, Buscemi said. Also, the city has solicited offers for two largely vacant parcels it owns or is acquiring.

They are at 4730 and 6401 S. Cicero. Bid documents state a preference for retail or some other commercial use on the sites, and response deadlines are in mid- to late-July. The properties are each about 32,000 square feet, and carry asking prices of $1.1 million to $1.3 million.

A Starbucks sits at 4701 S. Cicero, a rare outpost for the coffee chain in a working-class neighborhood. But redeveloping the stretch has many challenges.

The city consultants' report said the Cicero strip is plagued by properties that are too small for large-scale improvements. Many are only 100 feet deep, and going back farther would require buying homes. Other issues include the typical urban redevelopment ills -- too many landowners who would inflate asking prices on a speculative whim.

People living in homes near Cicero have relayed rumors that the city wants to buy their properties, either for commercial improvements or airport expansion. City officials emphatically deny that they want to buy homes for any reason.

Capraro said city planners should concentrate on two properties near the corridor's north and south ends. One is just off Cicero and includes a scrap yard and truck parking, while the other is the Midway Business Center, an industrial complex at the southwest corner of Cicero and Archer.

The report said the 1-million-square-foot business center was 60 percent vacant in 2004 because heavy traffic on Cicero made truck access difficult. Capraro said the industrial tenants could be moved near the expressway while the business center could become an upscale hotel next to the airport.

The business center's owner is Sue Gin, real estate entrepreneur and chairman of Flying Food Fare Inc. She said the complex is only about 10 percent vacant now, but that she's open to working with the city on a hotel redevelopment.

"That would be great if that could happen," Gin said. "I really believe that property has a higher and better use."

She said she has built flexibility into her leases so she could relocate if the right offer came along. Gin said she last discussed the property with the city about two years ago and that personnel changes at the planning department have bogged down progress on the issue.

In 2001, Gin and city officials struck a deal for her site to become an employee training center for American Trans Air Inc., a project that promised 2,500 jobs. The travel slump after 9/11 caused ATA to back out, and the airline filed for bankruptcy in 2004.

The other piece vital to Cicero improvements is Le Claire Courts at 43rd Street. The town-house-style project has been a relatively low priority in the CHA's "plan for transformation," the redevelopment of its properties into mixed-income areas.

CHA spokeswoman Karen Pride said the complex totals 616 units, of which 373 are occupied. She said all options are being considered for the property, but offered no timetable for a decision.

The Cicero corridor is a tax-increment financing district, which gives the city a way to finance public improvements. Money from the TIF also could be used to acquire property by eminent domain.

Other contributors to the consultants' study included URS Corp., Goodman Williams Group and Gonzalez Hasbrouck Architects. It concluded that hotels and new retail offered the best potential for Cicero.

It identified limited demand for office space, noting that because Midway is a point-to-point airport, it lacks O'Hare Airport's appeal for corporate headquarters

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

IT'S BEEN A BUMPY RIDE FOR CICERO AVENUE

Why doesn't South Cicero Avenue, the Midway Airport access route, look the way Rosemont does for cuddling up to O'Hare?

James Capraro, executive director of the Greater Southwest Development Corp., said one answer goes back to the 1970s. It's the plan for the old Crosstown Expy., which would have run right up Cicero.

Capraro said the city's Crosstown plan froze private investment. "The motels on Cicero didn't used to be fleabag,'' he said. "After the Crosstown was announced, they became fleabag."

The plan died, but the air of disinvestment lingered. And the street and other neighborhood business strips suffered again when Midway Airlines closed in 1991, said Anita Cummings, executive director of the United Business Association of Midway.

Southwest Airlines took up the slack, but it took a while for the city's No. 2 airport to fully rebound. And the travel downturn after Sept. 11, 2001 squelched some private investment.

Cummings said whenever Midway Airport suffers, local business feels it immediately. For all the complaints about noise and traffic, the downturns "make people realize just how important that airport is to the Southwest Side," Cummings said.

www.suntimes.com

BVictor1

06-04-2006, 12:54 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/realestate/04nati.html

National Perspectives
How a Park Changed a Chicago Neighborhood

By ROBERT SHAROFF
Published: June 4, 2006
CHICAGO

MILLENNIUM PARK, the $475 million modernist playground that opened at the edge of Lake Michigan here two years ago, has quickly become one of the city's leading tourist attractions. What is less known, however, is that the 24.6-acre park — which features a stunning stainless steel band shell and pedestrian bridge designed by the architect Frank Gehry, along with art and gardens by a galaxy of international figures — has had a transforming effect on the surrounding neighborhood.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/02/realestate/04nati.650.jpg
Susan Grosch in her living room at the Heritage, a new condominium, with the park in the background.

In the late 1990's, the area, known as the East Loop or South Michigan Avenue, was a fairly sleepy retail and office district. In the last five years, however, it has emerged as one of the city's hottest residential neighborhoods with more than a dozen projects rising within blocks of the park.

According to a study commissioned by the city in 2005, the park is responsible for about $1.4 billion in residential development and for increasing residential real estate values in the area by $100 a square foot.

"The East Loop has become an incredibly vibrant asset for the city," said Lori T. Healey, the city's planning commissioner. What has been created there is a mixed-use, round-the-clock neighborhood that includes office, residential, entertainment and open space. "It's a great symbiotic relationship."

Real estate executives agree. "You've got the park, the harbor, Navy Pier, the museums and other cultural attractions and easy access to expressways and public transportation," said James Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties, a real estate brokerage firm. "It's a pretty unbeatable combination."

Others believe the success of the park is contributing to a shift in housing patterns across the city. "The epicenter of urban living in downtown Chicago has been progressively moving south for the last 5 to 10 years," said Thomas O. Weeks, president of the LR Development Company, developer of 340 on the Park, a high-rise condominium building under construction across Randolph Street from the park. "I think there will come a time when Millennium and Grant Parks will define residential living in Chicago much like Central Park does in New York," he said.

(Millennium Park is adjacent to Grant Park, a much larger park to the south that is part of a chain of parks created more than a century ago along the city's lakefront.)

The most successful project to date is probably the Heritage at Millennium Park, a 57-story condominium tower completed 18 months ago on nearby Wabash Avenue with unobstructed views of the park and lake. The building, which has 357 units, sold out well before it was finished at prices ranging from $245,000 for an 800-square-foot studio to $3.5 million for a 5,060-square-foot penthouse.

"The park was the catalyst for realizing this could be a residential neighborhood," said Richard Hanson, a principal with Mesa Development, the project's developer. "I don't think the building would have been viable without it."

In July, Mr. Hanson will break ground on a second tower, called the Legacy, on a site two blocks south of the Heritage. Just over 60 percent of the 355 units have already been sold at prices ranging from $300,000 for an 875-square-foot one-bedroom to $7.8 million for a 9,301-square-foot penthouse.

The buyers for both projects, he said, are mainly "young professionals, empty-nesters and people who are leaving 4,000-square-foot homes in the suburbs and need larger units."

Susan Grosch and her husband, Tony, who bought a two-bedroom unit at the Heritage, are in the second category. Mrs. Grosch is a retired public school teacher while her husband is a lecturer in the English department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The couple formerly lived in a lakefront neighborhood several miles north of the Loop.

"My husband had wanted to move downtown for many years and periodically would ask me what I thought of this or that location," she said. "I was never very interested until one morning he said, 'How about Millennium Park?' And I said, 'Now, that sounds interesting.' "

The draw is the neighborhood. "We love the convenience, especially being able to walk to so many of the cultural venues, where in the past we've either had to drive or take a bus," she said.

The project that has caused the most stir architecturally is the Aqua Tower, an 80-story high-rise by the architect Jeanne Gang. It will consist of a 215-room hotel and 476 rental apartments on the lower floors and 263 condos on top. The building — which is at least 50 percent sold at prices ranging from $342,000 for an 674-square-foot studio to $2 million for a 3,100-square-foot penthouse — is to begin construction this fall and to be finished in 2009.

The building has a sensuous rippling facade created through the use of irregularly shaped concrete floor slabs. Ms. Gang, a protégée of the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, said the inspiration was striated limestone outcroppings that are a common topographic feature of the Great Lakes region.

"We were looking at ways to tie the building to its place and realized the lake is the biggest thing in the area," Ms. Gang said. She added that the irregular floor plates also serve a practical function in that they allow for many stunning terraces.

Skip to next paragraph

William Zbaren for The New York Times
Millennium Park, as seen in the foreground, has spurred development in the East Loop.

Readers’ Opinions
Forum: Owning and Renting a Home
One early buyer is Nathaniel Pusey, an executive with J. P. Morgan Chase who relocated with his partner, Ronald Schnorbus, to Chicago two years ago from Wilmington, Del. The Aqua, he says, is "an architectural event."

"I like the whole package," he said. "It's enough square footage that I don't have to sell all of my furniture, and I like being near the park and the lake."

Aqua and Mr. Weeks's project, 340 on the Park, are part of a much larger project rising on 28 acres that for most of the last century was occupied by an Illinois Central Railroad train yard.

The project, called Lakeshore East, began in the late 1990's and will eventually consist of 16 high-rise residential buildings as well as a 100,000-square-foot shopping center. So far, six buildings have been completed or are under way. The developer is the Magellan Development Group of Chicago.

Another result of the Millennium Park effect is the renovation of several older office buildings in the area into rental apartments or condos. One of the largest is Metropolitan Tower, a 30-story landmark building at the corner of South Michigan Avenue and Jackson Street designed in 1924 by the architecture firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White.

The building, which includes a tower topped by a pyramid, a bell carillon and an elaborate blue beacon, is part of a landmark district created by the city two years ago to preserve a multiblock stretch of historic buildings along Michigan Avenue.

Metropolitan Tower, originally known as the Straus Building, is being converted into 243 condominiums. Prices range from around $300,000 for a 750-square-foot one-bedroom to $1.6 million for a 1,932-square-foot three-bedroom. In addition, there are six penthouses of 3,800 square feet to 5,400 square feet that are being sold as raw space at an average price of $700 a square foot.

Louis D'Angelo, the developer of the building as well as of two smaller projects on the same block, said: "There's an enormous number of people moving back into the city. Crime is down, the schools have improved and there's been a huge investment in public infrastructure in the form of new parks and libraries and police and fire stations.

"And Millennium Park is the icing on the cake."

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/02/realestate/national.chicago3.190.jpg
William Zbaren for The New York Times
Millennium Park, as seen in the foreground, has spurred development in the East Loop.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/06/04/realestate/national.chicago1.190.jpg
Construction of the Aqua Tower is expected to begin this fall.

Dan in Chicago

06-05-2006, 07:44 AM

Millennium Park is adjacent to Grant Park, a much larger park to the south that is part of a chain of parks created more than a century ago along the city's lakefront.

This is a common misunderstanding encouraged by the naming of Millennium Park. Millennium Park is a PART of Grant Park. Not to include it would be like carving out a quarter of Central Park and giving it a different name. Grant Park has always been defined by Randolph, Michigan, the lake, and Roosevelt (although the southern border is a bit more complex). I had this discussion with Bob O'Neill - chairman of the Grant Park Advisory Board - and he confirmed what I have just said.

Jaroslaw

06-05-2006, 04:07 PM

MILLENNIUM PARK, the $475 million modernist playground...

Unclear what is modernist about it... the layout is classical, the contextualization of the art is classical, the sculptures are not "modernist." Maybe they were at a loss for an adjective? Maybe they meant "modern"?

Latoso

06-06-2006, 10:17 PM

spyguy

06-08-2006, 06:43 PM

I agree with their ideas, but the article makes them seem like really odd people.

bicycle equipped with an oldies-playing radio
Standing with his megaphone in hand
riders instead found themselves gazing into Burton’s backyard
"Give it up for the Midwest!" cry
the group’s nemesis, Lake Shore Drive
Dresden-after-the-bombing feel
a fully costumed Daniel Burnham, Montgomery Ward, and George Wellington "Cap" Streeter. That ride stopped after the Burnham look-a-like left Chicago and the following year’s event, "just wasn’t the same," Burton lamented.

And on July 15, the group will host the Queen’s Ride, led by a Queen Elizabeth impersonator. It will start at Queen’s Landing, where a recent de-paving battle was lost.:rolleyes:

It's like a cult or something:koko:

VivaLFuego

06-15-2006, 01:42 AM

From city web site:

Mayor Daley Releases $1.7 Billion Capital Improvement Program

Aldermanic Menu Program Gets 10 Percent Boost

Mayor Richard M. Daley today released a $1,699,661,246 Capital Improvement Program for 2006 that includes a 10 percent increase in the Aldermanic Menu Program.

“From the day my administration first took office, we made a commitment to keep the city in good repair, even in uncertain economic times,” Daley said at a news conference at 110th and Peoria streets, where City crews are reconstructing a Depression-era WPA (Works Progress Administration) street.

“These projects seldom make big headlines, but they’re absolutely necessary to improve our neighborhood quality of life and create jobs to sustain the Chicago economy. They will make the city more attractive to prospective employers. And they will make Chicago an even better place to live, work and raise a family.”

The program comprises:

• $190 million in general obligation bonds to pay for the city's neighborhood infrastructure program. This includes:

o $122 million in neighborhood improvements (including $66 million for the aldermanic menu program), and other residential street, curb/gutter, lighting, alley and sidewalk projects;

o $38 million for infrastructure improvements to stimulate economic development citywide (industrial streets, streetscaping, medians, viaducts);

o $30 million for green space, facilities, traffic signals and other upgrades;

• $104 million for water system projects;

• $52 million for sewer improvements;

• $532 million for the O’Hare Modernization Program;

• $544 million in other aviation projects at Chicago's two airports;

• $277 million in federal, state, city and other funding for transportation, economic development, open and green space, and municipal facility projects.

Highlights of the program include:

> Installing 32 miles of new water mains;

> Reconstructing more than 7.2 miles of sewers, and lining and rehabilitating another 12 miles of sewers;

> Resurfacing more than 37 miles of arterial streets;

> Installing new street lights on 220 neighborhood blocks, two for each ward;

> Replacing lamps in all alleys citywide;

> Reconstructing 25 blocks of former WPA streets;

> Constructing six new alleys and resurfacing 128 alleys;

> Resurfacing 510 blocks of local streets;

> Replacing 200 blocks of sidewalks;

> Installing new and modernized traffic signals at 48 intersections;

> Reconstructing Grand Avenue, from Narragansett Avenue to Central Avenue;

> Completing new bridges over the Kennedy Expressway at Washington Street and Monroe Street;

> Beginning work on a new North Avenue Bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River.

The 2006 Capital Improvement Program increases the Aldermanic Menu Program by 10 percent, bringing it to a total of $66 million, or $1,320,000 per ward

For the second year, the Model Block program has been relaxed, so that each alderman can invest the $120,000 allocation in two Model Blocks, or use the money for other menu-eligible projects.

Hm, I wonder if these include any funds for continuing the CTA subway renovations....since the subway tubes and stations are city assets, while the tracks and signals belong to CTA. Our subway stations, while endearing in their own way, are kind of disgraceful.

Chicago3rd

06-15-2006, 04:17 AM

Hm, I wonder if these include any funds for continuing the CTA subway renovations....since the subway tubes and stations are city assets, while the tracks and signals belong to CTA. Our subway stations, while endearing in their own way, are kind of disgraceful.

According to CTA most comes from the Feds then the rest comes from IDOT.

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/ctaandpress.wu?action=displayarticledetail&articleid=101165

"Work on the project began in May 2004. Funding was provided through the Federal Transit Administration (approximately 80 percent) and IDOT (about 20 percent)."

VivaLFuego

06-16-2006, 12:38 AM

According to CTA most comes from the Feds then the rest comes from IDOT.

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/ctaandpress.wu?action=displayarticledetail&articleid=101165

"Work on the project began in May 2004. Funding was provided through the Federal Transit Administration (approximately 80 percent) and IDOT (about 20 percent)."
Good catch.

I wouldn't be averse to some or all of the renovation money coming locally though, unless the FTA money invovled somehow prohibits that. Grant money has weird rules sometime. I believe the City of Chicago, through bond issues, property taxes, and TIF districts could do ALOT more to invest some capital money in public transit infrastructure. Wouldn't be hard since they do close to shit now...

alex1

06-16-2006, 01:20 AM

This is a common misunderstanding encouraged by the naming of Millennium Park. Millennium Park is a PART of Grant Park. Not to include it would be like carving out a quarter of Central Park and giving it a different name. Grant Park has always been defined by Randolph, Michigan, the lake, and Roosevelt (although the southern border is a bit more complex). I had this discussion with Bob O'Neill - chairman of the Grant Park Advisory Board - and he confirmed what I have just said.

your analogy doesn't quite work in chicago's instance since Millennium Park wasn't carved out of an existing park but built on top of a railroad track. I doubt you'd find anyone pre-2000 that would have termed that exact location part of Grant Park.

you can call it an extension of Grant Park if you'd like but to me it's Millennium Park. Grant Park is its stodgey neighbor.

Chicago2020

06-16-2006, 07:00 AM

Is the city planning on covering up the railroad tracks under the Art Institute??????

Perhaps, turning it to a open space area

VivaLFuego

06-16-2006, 03:04 PM

Is the city planning on covering up the railroad tracks under the Art Institute??????

Perhaps, turning it to a open space area
There's 'plans' to deck the tracks over through Grant Park all the way down to about 15th street, but I'd be shocked if anything happened anytime soon...you know, cause it costs money and no one wants to pay for it.

SevenSevenThree

06-17-2006, 03:54 AM

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Chgo83/NorthAvenueBridge.jpg

North Avenue Bridge reconstruction begins

Temporary bridge to handle traffic during construction.

New bridge to feature two full lanes in each direction.

Construction crews next week will begin work to replace the North Avenue Bridge over the North Branch of the Chicago River.

The project will replace the 99-year-old bridge with a modern, architecturally significant bridge employing the latest in bridge technology.

But before that work begins, the city will build a temporary bridge to handle vehicles and pedestrians—so that North Avenue traffic can continue to flow throughout the project.

The new North Avenue bridge will widen the roadway to feature two full lanes in each direction, the same as the rest of North Avenue. Currently, North Avenue narrows to one lane over the bridge.

“This additional lane will be a great benefit to traffic in the North Avenue corridor,” said CDOT Acting Commissioner Cheri Heramb. The new bridge will also feature sidewalks on both sides, a benefit for pedestrians, Heramb said.

The $21.4 million project represents Mayor Richard M. Daley’s continuing investment in Chicago’s transportation infrastructure.

The new bridge will be a hybrid suspension/cable-stay bridge, the first of its kind in Chicago.

The center section will be a suspension bridge, while the ends will be a cable-stay bridge. A suspension bridge hangs from cables anchored at each end, while a cable-stay bridge supports the deck with cables from a central tower or towers.

This configuration allows for an open, airy bridge with a thin deck, or roadway platform. It also creates the maximum amount of clearance over the river, as required by the federal government.

“In a city with a long heritage of innovative bridge design, the new North Avenue Bridge will be a notable addition,” Heramb said.

Traffic impacts

The city has structured the project so that North Avenue will remain open to traffic throughout construction. The temporary bridge will have one lane in each direction, the same as the current configuration. One sidewalk will also remain open.

“As with all our projects, our goal is to minimize the impact on motorists, businesses and residents,” Heramb said.

Motorists wishing to avoid the area can use Cortland to the north or Division to the south.

The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2007.

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0618916188.1150515623@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfaddidejildhcefecelldffhdfgn.0&contentOID=536941339&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Dept&blockName=Transportation%2FI+Want+To&context=dept&channelId=0&programId=0&entityName=Transportation&deptMainCategoryOID=

spyguy

06-17-2006, 04:49 AM

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/1904/9385299400x3009tx.jpg

How tall will the towers be?

HK Chicago

06-17-2006, 11:16 PM

They look ~40' from the deck.

SevenSevenThree

06-17-2006, 11:24 PM

They look ~40' from the deck.

Yeah. I think I read somewhere theyre 45'.

Frankie

06-18-2006, 11:49 AM

From this weeks crain's

Residents bring later Loop hours
By Darci Smith

Condo dwellers and tourists heading to Millennium Park are helping prompt changes that make downtown a little friendlier after 5.
Business and cultural centers are trying to meet the demands of the Loop's expanding residential population by extending hours, says Ty Tabing, executive director of the Chicago Loop Alliance. "Percentage-wise, the Loop is the fastest-growing residential neighborhood in the city," he says. "In the past it's been more of a 9-to-5 community."

To find out just how many people now call the neighborhood home, the Chicago Loop Alliance recently funded a study of the neighborhood's various demographics, including residential, business and theater. The study should be completed by summer's end.

When Kim Gray moved to the South Loop last summer from Old Irving Park, she found few after-hours shopping prospects beyond grocery stores and the South Loop Target. "I go back to my old neighborhood to do shopping," says Ms. Gray, 29.

But changes are coming.

The Loop's resurgence prompted extended hours at the Art Institute of Chicago, which will be open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays during the summer. Evening admission is free on Thursdays year-round and Fridays through Labor Day.

Daytime free hours "fell right in the middle of the workday" and weren't benefiting Chicagoans, says Erin Hogan, director of public affairs. The hope is that downtown residents will pop in after work or before heading to evening activities in Millennium Park or Grant Park. "There's a real desire on our part to take part in the revitalized area," she adds.

Water Tower Place, too, has begun summer hours: Stores are open till 9 p.m. on weekdays. "We want to be accessible to everybody, no matter what their schedules are," says a Marshall Field's spokeswoman. "It's really giving the customer what she wants."

BVictor1

06-18-2006, 05:53 PM

http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/060609/

Can You Spot the Blight?
Insiders say Mayor Daley wants to re-up the Central Loop TIF, a barely overseen slush fund that sucks tax dollars away from schools and other public services in the name of stimulating development.

bBy Ben Joravsky

June 9, 2006

IN THE PAST few weeks city officials have been leaking their plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars rehabbing downtown office buildings, building new transit lines, and improving infrastructure throughout the Loop. The word around City Hall is that the flurry of announcements heralds the start of two campaigns: Mayor Daley’s run for reelection and his effort to extend the soon-toexpire Central Loop tax increment financing district to pay for a major portion of the proposed development. It’s a bit of a stretch to say the battle for the downtown TIF, set to end next year, is as crucial to Daley as his reelection, but it’s not that far off. The administration’s addicted to TIFs, which let the mayor keep his grip on city operations and give him a powerful weapon for keeping the City Council in line.

For the record, administration officials say they haven’t decided whether they’ll ask the City Council to extend the Central Loop TIF, which collected about $88 million in property taxes last year. But hardly anyone believes them. As insiders see it, city officials are quietly gauging the accommodations they’ll have to make in order to win support for extending or even expanding the TIF. “If you think Daley’s going to give that up, you’re naive,” says one county official. “He’s just putting on the window dressing to make it look good to the public.”

http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/060609/dearborn.jpg

A TIF caps the property taxes that get paid to entities like the Chicago Park District, the Board of Education, Cook County, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for a period of 23 years. So let’s say you were paying $1,000 a year in property taxes when a TIF was created in 1995, with about $500 going to the schools, $70 to the parks, and $73 to the county. That’s roughly what they can expect to get from you, no matter how much your property assessment goes up in the meantime. The extra—the increment, as they call it—goes into the TIF, to be spent at the discretion of the city’s planning department and the local alderman. The idea is to use the funds to spur development within the TIF’s boundaries, theoretically increasing the property tax base in the future.

Once adopted, TIFs practically disappear from public view. They’re not listed in the city budget or even, believe it or not, on your tax bill. The city offers no easy way for you, the citizen, to track a TIF over time to see how much is raised and spent. There’s an annual budget statement for each TIF, but it’s little more than an actuarial statement— money in, money out. And they aren’t posted on the Web. You can only get them from the planning department or at the municipal reference section at the Harold Washington Library Center.

You can’t even get a straight answer as to how much of your property tax bill is going to a TIF. If you live within a TIF district, your tax bill lies. Under the line item for the TIF it will say the fund draws zero dollars. In fact, if your property was built after the TIF was created, all of your tax dollars could be going to it.

Obviously, Daley and the City Council love TIFs—they’ve created more than 100 of them over the last ten years. Last year they diverted about $335 million in property taxes, up from $287.4 million in 2004. By law they’re supposed to be limited to blighted communities that would find it difficult to attract investment without the sweetening offered by a TIF. But given their minimal oversight, they in effect function as private piggy banks to be drawn on when, where, and how Daley and the local aldermen want. There’s TIF money going to upscale projects in gentrifying neighborhoods—the city’s even spending $46 million in TIF dollars to rehab buildings on Loyola University’s north lakefront campus, a public subsidy for a private institution that doesn’t pay property taxes. From the time the planning department officially proposes a TIF to the time the City Council approves one, people who owe their jobs to Daley or to people who owe their jobs to Daley run the process.

The Central Loop is the big daddy of all the TIFs. Originally created in 1984 by Mayor Harold Washington to cover 15 blocks in the north Loop, it was expanded in 1997 to cover pretty much everything between Michigan and Dearborn, running from the Chicago River down to the Congress Parkway. Community activists opposed the expansion, noting that it diverted hundreds of millions in property tax dollars from a public school system in desperate need of cash to a corner of the city that was already booming. “This TIF expansion amounts to a tax grab for downtown developers,” said Ted Thomas, board president of the community group ACORN, at the time.

But Daley prevailed, arguing that the approximately 15 office buildings in the area with occupancy rates below 90 percent qualified the district as blighted. Over the last five years the TIF has diverted at least $350 million in property taxes—$88.1 million last year alone—according to the Cook County Clerk’s annual statement.

And what did we get for all that money? According to studies by Jason Hardy and Art Lyons, researchers at the nonprofit Center for Economic Policy Analysis, it’s been used to finance over $100 million in public works improvements, including streetscaping, street lighting, and repairing sidewalks. About $6.6 million went to convert the Fisher Building at 343 S. Dearborn into luxury rental apartments, another $2.5 million went to convert the Mentor Building at 37 S. State into condos, and about $25 million went to convert or rebuild several hotels including the Hotel Allegro, the Hotel Burnham, the Oxford House, and the Saint George. A big chunk of the money—roughly $60 million—went to rehab or rebuild the Chicago Theatre, the Goodman Theatre, the Oriental Theatre, and the Cadillac Palace Theatre. And of course, the Central Loop TIF was there when Daley needed it most: he plucked $95 million from it to cover cost overruns at Millennium Park.

The city sees all this as signs that the TIF has been a smashing success. “It has been successful in bringing in new business, new retail, new visibility, new commercial, new entertainment to the downtown area,” says Constance Buscemi, a spokeswoman for the planning department.

But this very argument makes it hard to justify extending the TIF another 23 years: if the area’s booming, why is it in need of even more subsidies? “You can’t have it two ways,” Hardy says. “You can’t say the TIF has transformed the Loop and then say that the Loop is still blighted.”

As Hardy points out, the argument for the TIF has always been that it will eventually benefit the schools and parks by expanding the tax base. But if the TIF gets extended it will just keep feeding itself. Already the original 15- block north Loop TIF district is providing less in property taxes than when it was created back in 1984. According to the city, the north Loop tax increment redevelopment plan generated $5,407,659 in 1982. Last year that property generated only about $3.5 million because the assessment remains frozen at $54.5 million and the tax rate has dropped to 6.28 percent.

Don’t expect these issues to be debated by the City Council, which treats TIFs like zoning changes, generally going along with whatever the local alderman wants. As more than one alderman has told me, TIFs are the only game in town. If you want a TIF in your ward you have to be for TIFs in every ward.

Perhaps no one illustrates this point better than Ted Thomas, the ACORN activist who denounced the Central Loop TIF expansion back in the day. Now he says he’ll support its extension. What’s changed? Thanks to the prominence he gained as president of ACORN, he was elected alderman of the 15th Ward in 1999. After several years of representing his southwestside neighborhood on the council, he says he’s seen the light on TIFs. In fact, he proposed one for his ward that the council unanimously approved earlier this year.

“When I was president of ACORN I was looking at things from that point of view,” he says. “Now as an alderman, I’m pushing for a TIF in my ward. If the alderman wants something for his ward, the other aldermen should help him do it. It’s how you get things done.”

Loopy

06-20-2006, 05:28 PM

Has anyone heard any updates on the Wabash Ave. elevated track cosmetic improvements?

http://www.chicagoloopalliance.com/latestintheloop/Images/WabashAfter(new).jpg

last year, Chicago Loop Alliance announced this project to sandblast and paint the El track structure the same maroon color as the bridges. There was lighting and landscaping improvements as well. It was definitely announced as a summer 2006 project. Nothing happening yet.

http://www.chicagoloopalliance.com/businessloop/loopinfrastructure.htm

Chicago2020

06-24-2006, 05:51 PM

Museum-to-park bridge to get public airing

By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah
Tribune Staff Reporter
Published June 24, 2006

Plans for Renzo Piano's pedestrian bridge linking the new wing of the Art Institute of Chicago with Millennium Park will be unveiled next month at a public meeting.

The bridge would stretch 620 feet from the southwest corner of the "Great Lawn" to the top floor of the museum's new modern wing. From its landing in Millennium Park, it would gently slope up, reaching about 40 feet above Monroe Street, according to the Art Institute.

Unlike the bulkier BP Bridge that meanders across Columbus Drive, the Art Institute bridge would be made of steel and glass, and be light and airy, said Bob O'Neill, president of the Grant Park Advisory Council, which is organizing the public meeting.

"The views from here are going to be incredible," O'Neill said. "It'll become a Chicago icon, because there are no other opportunities to look at the park, the lake and the skyline and be outdoors and be up that high."

The museum is adding an outdoor sculpture terrace and possibly a dining area with a restaurant at its third floor, officials said. The bridge would open onto this part of the wing, which would serve as a viewing area, O'Neill said.

The bridge and the outdoor terrace area would be open to the public, regardless of whether visitors are visiting the Art Institute.

O'Neill said support columns for the bridge would be hidden by trees within Millennium Park and go over fenced-off service areas where equipment is stored.

Although the Art Institute does not have a final price tag for the bridge, $14 million has been given by a private donor toward construction.

The bridge must be approved by the Chicago Plan Commission, which is scheduled to consider it July 20, O'Neill said.

The Grant Park group's meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 10 at Daley Bicentennial Plaza, 337 E. Randolph St.

jcchii

06-25-2006, 02:16 PM

^^I walk under the tracks every day and I haven't seen any sign of it

BVictor1

06-25-2006, 03:49 PM

** Removed for copyright infringement **

-Dylan Leblanc

BVictor1

06-25-2006, 03:59 PM

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?post_date=2006-06-23&id=21092

June 23, 2006

Chicago developers reach for the sky
Construction boom adds 40 buildings of 50 stories or more since 2000

(AP) - In this city where the skyscraper was born, it is being reborn.

Luxury condominium towers and office buildings that climb 600 feet or more - some way more - into the sky are sprouting up all over downtown. Along the Chicago River, the Trump International Hotel and Tower is inching its way up to what will be its full 92-story height. Nearby, plans are in the works for a 124-story skyscraper called the Fordham Spire that would knock the Sears Tower from its perch as the tallest building in the United States and take its place among the tallest buildings on the planet.

In all, no fewer than 40 buildings at least 50 stories high have been built since 2000, are under construction or are planned. Together, they add up to a surge in high-rise construction in the city that, if not unprecedented, hasn't been seen here since the 1960s and 1970s when the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center and other buildings helped give the city one of the most distinctive skylines in the world.

And while there is a flurry of high-rise construction in the United States, particularly in New York, Miami and Las Vegas, the tallest of the tall are going up in Chicago. Of the three tallest buildings under construction, two are here, according to Emporis, an independent research group that catalogues high rise construction around the world.

"Out my window there are two, three, four, five new high-rises under construction or just completed in the last year and a half, and they've just announced another 80-story building," said Jim Fenters, who has lived on the 51st floor of a 54-story building overlooking Grant Park since 1979. "It's just remarkable what's happened here."

So widespread is high-rise construction that projects that would be headline news in other cities go all but unnoticed.

"The Waterview Tower, that project is 1,047 feet, taller than the Chrysler Building," Blair Kamin, the Chicago Tribune's Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic said of one building under construction. "In any other city there would be endless conversations, (but) here a 1,000-foot tower is, 'Ho-hum, how are the Cubs doing?"'

A mix of several factors have triggered this construction frenzy.

Start at City Hall. Chris Carley, the developer of the Fordham Spire, remembers the days not so long ago, maybe seven years, when city officials would greet proposals for high-rises with talk about knocking off 10 or more floors.

"The comment from the planning department was, 'Well, we don't want to have these huge, tall buildings like New York,"' he said.

Contrast that with the more recent experience of Chicago architect David Haymes, during discussions with the city about a planned condominium tower.

"I remember at least two (planning and development) staff members saying, 'Can't you make it taller? We really would like it taller.' We were taken aback."

Other developers report similar experiences.

"If you give them something that's architecturally significant ... they'll let you build what you need to build," said Donald Trump Jr., who is overseeing construction of his father's skyscraper.

Carley and Kamin say Chicago's change in attitude might have something to do with Sam Assefa, a former San Francisco planner who came to the planning department a few years ago espousing the virtues of tall, thin towers like those popping up in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Neither the mayor nor Assefa would comment for this article, but Carley said Mayor Richard M. Daley clearly took Assefa's message to heart.

"He's definitely encouraging and espousing taller buildings," said Carley, whose Fordham Spire would rise 2,000 feet, or more than a third of a mile, into the air.

Known nationally for beautification efforts like planting flowers, shuttering a small downtown airport to open a park, encouraging rooftop gardens and building "green" schools, the mayor might seem an unlikely champion of high-rises.

But Daley's planning commissioner, Lori Healey, says it all makes sense. In exchange for allowing developers to go higher where eyepopping views - and huge price tags - are, the city gets buildings that are a lot smaller at their base than the ones developers would have to build if they weren't allowed to push high into the sky.

"You have less space taken up at the ground levels (and) there is a lot more green space," Healey said.

The city also gets something in short supply in downtowns with shorter, wider buildings: light.

"The shadow cast by the profile of a tall, thin building is much less than a short, fat one," Healey said.

That's not to say there aren't concerns - particularly since some of these new buildings will figuratively and literally cast their shadows on some of the city's most recognizable landmarks.

"There is a concern (that) while on balance this is a good trend, very tall buildings don't belong everywhere," said Kamin, offering Trump's skyscraper as an example.

"The jury's out on whether (the building) will overwhelm landmarks like the Wrigley Building and overwhelm the river," he said. "People are concerned."

But nobody would be talking about the pros and cons of skyscrapers if there weren't a market. In Chicago there is.

It seems that more than a century after the world's first skyscraper, or "cloudbuster" as they were called in 1885 when the nine-story Home Insurance Building went up, Chicagoans remain enamored with tall buildings.

"Chicagoans live and breathe high-rises both within the profession and within the city," said David Scott, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which, not surprisingly, is based in Chicago.

One reason for the latest surge in construction is that Chicago, like many major cities, is becoming an increasingly popular place to live among people with a lot of money - precisely the population that fled cities for suburbs decades ago.

Downtown, tall condominium towers - some with units selling for millions of dollars - are popping up at a pace that those who track development have never seen before.

"Nearly 6,000 (rental and condominium units ) are going to be delivered this year," said Gail Lissner, vice president at Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago real estate consulting firm. "It's bigger than anything I can remember, and I've been in business since 1975."

The city's geography also plays a role. Unlike some other cities that don't have much space to build, Chicago has huge chunks of land. Perhaps more importantly, the land sits near Lake Michigan, the Chicago River or parks - all places where future developers can't build view-blocking skyscrapers of their own.

"We offer unobstructed views, basically forever, of the park and the lake," said Bob O'Neill, president of the Grant Park Conservancy.

Not only that, but thanks to the internationally acclaimed Millennium Park and other projects, longtime residents like Fenders say the view is getting even better.

From his window, Fenders can see Millennium Park's bandshell designed by architect Frank Gehry. He can also see where Renzo Piano's new wing at the Art Institute of Chicago is being built and the spot where there are plans to build the Santiago Calatrava-designed Fordham Spire.

"These are three of the most famous architects in the world, and their (projects) are right here," he said.

CMD UW

06-25-2006, 05:56 PM

sentinel

06-25-2006, 11:35 PM

^^^http://www.chicagobusiness.com/images/random/og062606q.gif
The cool thing about the picture that was attached to the article above is that it's very, very recent, from perhaps withing the past month or two, primiarly because in the background you can just make out 340 on the park under construction.
Quite an amazing skyline!!!!

Wheelingman04

06-28-2006, 03:06 AM

^ I love that photo.

spyguy

06-29-2006, 03:50 PM

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-roof29.html

City Hall's spreading the green
June 29, 2006
BY GARY WISBY Environment Reporter

Chicago is already tops for green rooftops, leading North America in the latest survey.

But City Hall, which started it all with a 20,300-square-foot green roof five years ago, wants more company downtown.

So under a plan that won City Council approval Wednesday, the city will offer matching funds up to $100,000 to put green roofs on downtown buildings.

The pilot program will draw $500,000 from the Central Loop Tax Increment Financing District. At $10 per square foot, that's enough to fund five to 10 projects, said Michael Berkshire of the city's Department of Planning and Development.

He calls the new project the GRIF TIF -- Green Roof Improvement Fund Tax Increment Financing.

"If it's a success, we'd like to target other TIF areas," Berkshire said. Prime candidates would be areas troubled by flooding or that are big contributors to the "urban heat island" effect -- conditions eased by roof plantings.

Buildings also benefit because green roofs cool the floor below in summer and help hold heat in winter. City Hall's greenery saves $5,000 a year on utility bills, Berkshire said.

Inspiration from Germany

Green roofs also extend the life of existing roofs by protecting their waterproofing membranes from ultraviolet rays and temperature change.

Where practical, green roofs are planted on all new and rehabbed city buildings. "Most people associate them with new construction," said Planning and Development spokeswoman Connie Buscemi. "That's a myth this program will help dispel."

Smaller buildings are getting the roofs, too. Last year, the city awarded $5,000 grants to 20 owners of homes or small businesses from a pool of 120 who applied.

A survey by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities said Chicago led North American cities in 2005 with 295,000 square feet of completed green roofs. But Berkshire said 2.5 million square feet are in various stages of development on more than 200 public and private structures.

That's not counting the 1,067,220-square-foot Millennium Park or the new 239,580-square-foot park at Soldier Field. Both are considered green roofs because they are built over parking garages.

Chicago's elevated greenery is one of Mayor Daley's darlings. He was wowed by green roofs in Hamburg, Germany, during a 1998 tour, and City Hall had its green roof by the end of 2001. It cost $2.5 million, funded by a settlement with ComEd.

Now that aldermen have OK'd the new program, Berkshire will start talking it up with business groups and building owners. Applications will be accepted online, with a Sept. 1 deadline.

Green connections lead to garden on garage

Sara and Joe Shacter have one of the newest and nicest green roofs in town, and it didn't cost them a dime.

The 20-by-22-foot garden was planted on their flat-topped garage on North Leavitt two weeks ago by Animal Planet's "Backyard Habitat" show.

Plantings were already in bloom so the roof could be shot for an episode that will air in the fall.

The Shacters built the home and moved into it in February with their 2-year-old twins, Jason and Benji.

It was chosen for the TV show because the couple had thought about adding a roof garden themselves, and because of Joe's green connections.

He works for the Environmental Law & Policy Center and is a former president of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, "so we're pretty environmentally conscious these days," his wife said.

Joe added, "We have an astounding green roof, and way before we thought we would."

The garden was designed by Bernie Jacobs of Jacobs Ryan Associates and installed by Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, a Hebron, Ill., firm that specializes in green roofs.

Snow, animals no problem

The company has built about 70 green roofs in the Chicago area, 60 of them in the city, said Kurt Horvath of Intrinsic.

For each job, he assesses whether the roof is strong enough to hold the additional weight of dirt and plants -- the range is 15 to 40 pounds per square foot.

What about snow? Chicago roofs are built to withstand it, "so there's no reason to remove it," Horvath said. "You leave it just like you would on your [ground-level] garden."

Animals are no problem, either, he said. "I've never seen any type of squirrel or rodent damage."

At the Shacter residence, Intrinsic installed a $15,000 garden, using 21 plant varieties including asters, chrysanthemums, delphiniums and three types of sedum, the tough, colorful common denominator of green roofs.

"We're watering it for the next two weeks, but after that it will be self-sustaining," Sara said. "I had no idea it would be so pretty."

Joe said the garden complements the home's landscaping, which incorporates several native elements.

"We're infatuated with our roof," he said. "We've got neighbors across the alley yelling at us, 'Thank you for the view!'"

Dan in Chicago

06-29-2006, 06:27 PM

your analogy doesn't quite work in chicago's instance since Millennium Park wasn't carved out of an existing park but built on top of a railroad track. I doubt you'd find anyone pre-2000 that would have termed that exact location part of Grant Park.

you can call it an extension of Grant Park if you'd like but to me it's Millennium Park. Grant Park is its stodgey neighbor.

It's not my analogy, it's the official Chicago Park District boundaries. You're forgetting that not all of Millennium Park was railroad yards: there was a substantial area of parkland along Michigan Avenue, where the original peristyle was, that was always considered part of Grant Park. And I don't see what's stodgy about green space... are we living in an age when any park that isn't paved from end to end with "attractions" is dated?

Chicago2020

07-11-2006, 03:24 AM

No step taken to replace crosswalk

Jon Hilkevitch
Published July 10, 2006

New bridges exclusively for pedestrians and bicyclists are gaining a welcome foothold in Chicago, improving access and safety and adding beauty to the landscape from Millennium Park to the south lakefront.

The next installment to the series of spans recently built in the Grant Park area will be the new pedestrian bridge at Monroe Street, connecting Millennium Park to the new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Plans for the gently sloping steel-and-glass Art Institute bridge, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, will be presented at a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Daley Bicentennial Plaza, 337 E. Randolph St.

But there is no progress to report on Queen's Landing, where Chicago officials removed the traffic signal and pedestrian crosswalk to Buckingham Fountain a year ago--without any public notice. The crosswalk near Monroe Harbor was installed in 1988 after a 13-year-old girl was struck and killed by a car.

Civic leaders who for the last year have unsuccessfully prodded the city to bring back the crosswalk are now beginning to focus efforts on forming a public-private partnership.

Their goal on this first anniversary of the crosswalk's closing is to raise some of the estimated $15 million needed to build a bridge or an underpass at Queen's Landing, named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II's 1959 visit to Chicago.

The civic leaders point to the city's ongoing strategy to sell corporate naming rights to the Chicago Skyway; to the approximately $15 million in private funding donated by Art Institute sponsors for the Monroe Street bridge; and to the Millennium Park bridge paid for in part by British Petroleum.

"This is an easy project to attract private dollars because with millions of people in cars on Lake Shore Drive, on foot and on bikes, it would be the most visible corporate sponsorship in the park area," said Bob O'Neill, president of the Grant Park Advisory Council.

"With the obvious connection to Queen Elizabeth, I'm going to start by calling [British entrepreneur] Richard Branson at the Virgin Group and British Airways," O'Neill said.

Chicago traffic authorities initially said it was necessary to remove the Queen's Landing crosswalk to more efficiently move the 139,000 vehicles a day that travel on Lake Shore Drive through the busy Grant Park area. One pedestrian pressing the "walk" button there, changing a green light to red for 34 seconds, inconvenienced a hundred or more vehicles, they said.

Officials also promised to come up with a solution--a bridge or a tunnel--for pedestrians seeking access from Buckingham Fountain across the eight lanes of Lake Shore Drive to the water's edge, to Navy Pier and the Museum Campus.

Yet a Chicago Department of Transportation feasibility study, started before the crosswalk, is still in the conceptual phase.

"Our engineers are taking a look at the available space and concerns related to construction, sight lines and access points with respect to building either a pedestrian underpass or a bridge," said CDOT spokesman Brian Steele. "But we have not drilled down to the details yet."

Steele said there is "no real timeline" for moving the project forward, although the city intends to apply for federal funds later this year to eventually build something.

"Any large-scale project like this is always going to be a lengthy process," Steele said.

But other projects are under way.

The city has secured about $6 million in federal funding to add a pedestrian bridge over South Lake Shore Drive at 41st Street and to design replacement bridges at 35th and 43rd Streets on the Drive, Steele said. The bridges, whose winning designs were selected from a CDOT-sponsored international competition, will be built over the next several years, he said.

In addition, plans are set to build a pedestrian and bicycle underpass beneath Solidarity Drive near the Adler Planetarium on the Museum Campus. All $11 million needed for the project has been acquired, Steele said.

The work follows the 2003 completion of the 11th Street Columbus Drive pedestrian-bike bridge and underpass and the 18th Street pedestrian-bike bridge.

But the slow pace of progress at Queen's Landing is leaving some Chicago business and civic leaders dissatisfied. "Of all the bridges being discussed, this is the most important one, linking Grant Park and the lakefront," said Louis D'Angelo, chairman of the Chicago Loop Alliance. "It needs to be put at a higher priority."

In light of the already long list of corporate sponsorships in Millennium and Grant Parks, such creative financing at Queen's Landing could place the project on a fast track, said D'Angelo, a developer who is president of Metropolitan Properties of Chicago.

Five million people visit Buckingham Fountain each year, according to the Chicago Park District, which owns the land on both sides of Lake Shore Drive. Millennium Park, home to the BP Bridge that snakes across Columbus Drive, is visited by about 3 million people, according to Millennium Park officials.

The Park District plans to work with other city agencies to develop a workable solution at Queen's Landing that is aesthetically compatible with the historic nature of the park and improves safety for park users, said Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner.

A year after the crosswalk closed, people still occasionally risk their lives bolting across Lake Shore Drive, according to the Chicago Traffic Management Authority.

Snow fencing hastily erected last year to discourage pedestrians, bicyclists and joggers from darting across the roadway has been replaced by concrete bollards linked by decorative chains. But remnants of the striped pedestrian crosswalk are still visible in the pavement.

"I think the bollards are ugly and perfectly stupid," said Kathy Schubert, a member of Forever Free and Clear, one of the groups pushing for a pedestrian crossing that is separated from the traffic. "It's easier to climb over the bollards than to scale the snow fence. The situation is an accident waiting to happen."

Pedestrian crossings on Lake Shore Drive near Buckingham Fountain still exist at Monroe, Jackson and Balbo Drives and at 11th Street. But the distances to those intersections are longer than the average city block and, once there, pedestrians must contend with turning vehicles cutting through the crosswalks.

City officials are still defending their decision to close the crosswalk.Daily traffic counts have increased substantially, up 13 percent north of 18th Street, said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the Traffic Management Authority. That's due in part to Lake Shore Drive being an alternate to the Dan Ryan Expressway, which is under construction, he said.

"Generally, pedestrians have made the adjustment [to the closed crosswalk pretty well and it seems traffic is running better through the spot," Smith said. "We think the pedestrians have found there are alternate locations to cross safely."

Chi_Coruscant

07-11-2006, 11:51 AM

Millennium-Art Institute bridge gets public airing

July 11, 2006

BY KEVIN NANCE Architecture Critic
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-millen11.html

The Art Institute of Chicago's proposed $25 million bridge would soar above Monroe Street between Michigan and Columbus in the summer of 2009, connecting Millennium Park with the museum's new Modern Wing.

It would be 620 feet long and 15 feet wide. It would be 23 feet above grade as it begins to cross over Monroe, and 30 feet high at the point of its junction with the museum.

And unlike the park's BP bridge, it would be open year-round, thanks to a heating system that would melt any ice or snow that accumulates on its aluminum floor.

Art Institute and Millennium Park officials doled out these and other tidbits about the bridge, which was first announced last year, at a Monday night meeting of the Grant Park Conservancy and the Grant Park Advisory Council. The event was one of a series of meetings with community groups at which the museum hopes to build support for the bridge before seeking final city approval for the project later this summer.

"We're excited about the opportunity to connect these two great cultural institutions in Chicago," said Meredith Mack, the Art Institute's vice president of operations.

Response mostly positive

If Monday's meeting is any indication, the museum appeared to have little to worry about. Reaction to the bridge, which would start at the southwestern edge of the Pritzker Pavilion's Great Lawn and end up on the Modern Wing's third-floor sculpture terrace, was mostly positive.

The Grant Park Conservancy's Bob O'Neill, for example, hailed the plan for the views it would offer pedestrians of the city, the lakefront and the Michigan Avenue streetwall. "You can't get those views from anywhere else," he said. "I think it'll be incredibly well-used and a huge success."

Millennium Park's Ed Uhlir agreed, noting that the bridge will offer a spectacular and currently unavailable view of the park's Lurie Garden, which slopes down toward Monroe.

A minority opinion came from downtown resident Greg Reid, who lives in the nearby Harbor Point Condominiums, which overlooks the park. Reid said he was concerned about the bridge's potential to obstruct views of and from the lake, and about the broader issue of overcrowding and noise in the vicinity of the park.

"A lot of people do live here in the neighborhood," he said. "I don't want to turn Grant Park into Navy Pier, where people come down to party all the time."

headcase

07-11-2006, 12:38 PM

Millennium-Art Institute bridge gets public airing

A minority opinion came from downtown resident Greg Reid, who lives in the nearby Harbor Point Condominiums, which overlooks the park. Reid said he was concerned about the bridge's potential to obstruct views of and from the lake, and about the broader issue of overcrowding and noise in the vicinity of the park.

"A lot of people do live here in the neighborhood," he said. "I don't want to turn Grant Park into Navy Pier, where people come down to party all the time."

You could hear the "but" in this guy's speach long before he said it.

Bridge to Art Museum = Ferris Wheel?

spyguy

07-11-2006, 01:57 PM

You just know that people are going to party on the bridge.

Seriously though, Grant Park is for all people to enjoy and have fun. The residents who live nearby cannot pretend that it is their park to fence off like a backyard and dictate the park's future.

Chicago3rd

07-11-2006, 01:59 PM

It is a public park. Sorry folks who moved into the area around Grant Park. Perhaps you should have noted that vast open space and looked into it. It is called a public park. Not your back yard. So move out to Schaumburg.

Harbor Point...isn't that located north and east of the proposed bridge? So how in the hell will it block his view of the lake? AT least he didn't use the tired "aren't you afraid it will attract terrorist" speil we keep hearing at highrise meetings.

Chicago3rd

07-11-2006, 02:02 PM

[QUOTE=BVictor1]** Removed for copyright infringement **

-Dylan Leblanc[QUOTE]

The city of Chicago was paying millions a year to keep it open. The last agreement (would have kept it open 25 more years) had the State of Illinois picking up the $4 million a year annual tab. So the tax payers would have paid $12 million by now if we would have kept this airport open. Daley has now saved the state of Illinois $4 million so far and it will ultimately save the state of Illionios over $100 Million......Thank you KING RICHARD!!!!:tup:

headcase

07-11-2006, 03:39 PM

Harbor Point...isn't that located north and east of the proposed bridge? So how in the hell will it block his view of the lake? AT least he didn't use the tired "aren't you afraid it will attract terrorist" speil we keep hearing at highrise meetings.

He was actually complaning about two things, 1) how it would look when he looked down on it, and 2) how it would look from his sailboat........

spyguy

07-11-2006, 10:22 PM

^He actually said that? How are these people allowed to speak? Shouldn't they feel stupid themselves by saying such things in front of their neighbors?

Chi_Coruscant

07-12-2006, 12:41 AM

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=21280

City proposes $550M LaSalle Street revival
July 11, 2006
By Greg Hinz

Chicago's financial district suffers from 'deterioration' and 'obsolescence'

(Crain’s) — City Hall Tuesday unveiled a half-billion-dollar plan to subsidize the rebirth of a huge swath of the Loop financial district, saying that Chicago’s traditional financial heart suffers from “deterioration” and “obsolescence.”
After months of rumors, the Daley Administration formally proposed to designate a 40-block section centering on LaSalle Street south of the river as a tax increment financing (TIF) district.

The city did not immediately spell out who would get money or in what amounts. But under an overview proposal submitted to the Community Development Commission, at least $550 million in property-tax receipts would be diverted from the Board of Education and other local governments over the next 23 years and instead be used to clear land, subsidize new building and redevelopment, and pay for public projects in the area, possibly a proposed Monroe Street express busway.

The proposed new TIF includes most of the Loop that is not already in the Central Loop TIF district to the north and east. Included are such landmark properties as the Board of Trade Building, City Hall, the Inland Steel Building and the Rookery, as well as the Riverbend site at Lake and the river that has been eyed for new growth.

Though many buildings in the area have historic charm, a lot of them “need help,” said Lori Healey, the commissioner of the city Department of Planning and Development. Only by modernizing mechanical and other systems will such buildings be able to compete with newer structures to the west and in the suburbs, she said, and building owners may not be able to afford to do that without city assistance.

United Airlines reportedly has considered at least two buildings in the proposed district for its new corporate headquarters. United is considering moving downtown, out of state, or staying in suburban Elk Grove Township.
The biggest budget item in the plan proposed Tuesday was $200 million for public works and related improvements. Ms. Healy said that could include a wide range of projects but said the city is particularly eyeing transit projects to fight increased downtown congestion.

Another $200 million is allotted for rehabilitation of existing buildings, with $50 million for property assembly.

The projects would be funded by growth of property-tax receipts within the TIF area. The city argues that much of that growth would not occur if not for the subsidies, but some civic groups have argued that it is not wise policy to strip schools of even inflationary growth in tax receipts.

Ms. Healey said the city “continues to review” what to do with the Central Loop TIF district, which is due to expire after next year.

That district originally was proposed as a means to help East Loop landlords modernize their buildings, but more than $100 million ended up being diverted to pay construction cost of Millenium Park.

The Community Development Commission took the plan under review, but is expected to approve it later this year.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8035/lasalletif7ic.gif (http://imageshack.us)

LA21st

07-12-2006, 12:59 AM

I wouldnt say this area needs a "revival". This one of the most vibrant workday populations on earth.

Frankie

07-12-2006, 08:30 AM

Another view on the Lasalle St. TIF district from yesterday's Sun Times

City outlines La Salle Street TIF district

July 11, 2006
BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter Advertisement

City officials Tuesday issued the first details, including a map, of a new downtown taxing district designed to subsidize commercial growth and public improvements, with a focus on La Salle Street.

“I see this as the traditional commercial heart of the city,’’ planning Commissioner Lori Healey said of the proposed tax-increment financing district. If approved, the so-called TIF district would finance a range of projects and help owners of aging office buildings refurbish to attract more companies, she said.

But leaders of key downtown business groups, representing those who might benefit from TIF funding, said they oppose the proposal because the city, not their members, would decide how to spend the proceeds. In a rare break with City Hall, the groups said the TIF should be governed by a committee representing the businesses and property owners.

“We want self-governance for the stakeholders here,’’ said Bill Bornhoff, vice president and director of the Chicago Development Council, which represents downtown builders.

With a similar reaction was Michael Cornicelli, director of government affairs for the Buildings Owners and Managers Association of Chicago. “We need the planning for this to be from the ground up, not the top down,” he said. “When it comes to TIFs, the city has always done things from the top down.”

The amount of money at stake could be huge, judging from the city’s record with downtown TIFs. The La Salle-based TIF could generate $550 million over its statutory 23-year life, city officials estimated.

Healey said she saw no need for a business committee with veto power over spending plans. “We have it in place already relatively unofficially,” she said, explaining that business lobbyists are constantly consulted on planning issues.

The proposed district covers blocks primarily between Clark and Canal, Randolph south to Van Buren. A section of Wacker Drive with new office towers was kept out of the district, as were eastern parts of the Loop that already have their own TIF coverage.

La Salle is considered the heart because it has old office buildings that have lost tenants to Wacker Drive. The district includes both sides of La Salle from just north of Lake to Van Buren.

Sears Tower is in the district, as is City Hall itself and a section of Randolph near Wacker where developer John Buck harbors plans for a new skyscraper.

His plan could be eligible for TIF assistance, but Healey said the city would emphasize help for renovations of “older buildings that face challenges in the marketplace.”

Funding also could be set aside to create a park or even a school to serve downtown’s growing population, she said.

TIFs do not raise taxes, but redirect them away from schools and other local governments. A baseline of tax receipts is established at the start, and every increase each year is diverted to an account that can fund private development or public works.

Mayor Daley has described TIFs as his only economic development tool. The Central Loop TIF, parts of which date from 1984, generated $87.7 million for subsidies in 2004, the last year for which results have been published. Its yearly windfall was used to bail out Millennium Park.

Since taking office in 1989, Daley has increased the number of TIFs from 11 to more than 140. Critics have said TIFs are overused, help development that would have occurred anyway, cheat schools and give City Hall a money pot with little accountability.

Plans for what would be called the La Salle Central TIF were introduced Tuesday to the Community Development Commission, which set a public hearing Sept. 12. The commission will then forward its recommendation on the TIF to the City Council, which has the final call.

Healey said the effectiveness of TIFs is proven, and she expects no modifications from the public input.

Bornhoff said the city is acting as if it has all the answers, but he said his criticism was directed at the bureaucrats and not Daley. “We want to execute something that’s meaningful in the spirit of what he’s trying to do,” Bornhoff said.

droeder@suntimes.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If this new TIF district will help Buck get his new tower off the ground then its worth it IMO

Chicago3rd

07-12-2006, 04:42 PM

I am not in favor of this TIF. Isn't business suppose to be free enterprise? Shouldn't the land lords have been updating the buildings all along? Why give these property owners welfare? Let them deal with the market. Eventually someone will come along and buy the buildings that the land lords have let go to waste and turn them into something like they are planning with 208 S. LaSalle.

dvidler

07-12-2006, 07:12 PM

It depends on what other cities are doing to promote business development within their city core. If other big cities are using certain types of financing to entice businesses etc to relocate or stay then Chicago has to play ball to keep in the game.

Chicago3rd

07-12-2006, 07:25 PM

I disagree. The core in Chicago is big enough and has TIFFs. Get the private sector too addicted to TIFFs then there will be NO incentive for them to continually reinvest into their properties. The land lords made money....pocketed it.....and the building got run down. Office tenants are moving into the newer buildings. The exact reason some of us see continued growth of Class A buildings. There is a market for them. Just think if all the landlords along LaSalle would have invested in their own property then there might not be such a thirst for class A buildings.

Would rather have a TIFF on to build a west El Loop down Clinton between Lake and Harris. Reward the land owners who invested in their properties and created the new west side.

And in no way should we subsidize bad business decisions.

VivaLFuego

07-13-2006, 02:29 AM

I support the TIF only if it is used for public infrastructure improvements (Monroe st. rapid transit! West Loop Subway! :) ), but NOT to private interests or developers.

The notion in the sun-times article that business groups should oversee the dispersement of public money is ludicrous.

LA21st

07-13-2006, 02:42 AM

I agree, the Clinton St subway is a must. However, I talked to a friend in CDOT about this, and he said it is many years away. :(
Keep your eye on Carroll Ave though.:tup:

the urban politician

07-13-2006, 02:42 AM

Loopy

07-13-2006, 02:17 PM

VivaLfuego, LA21st,

Have either of you guys heard any recent buzz that you can share about the Taylor Street Extension viaduct and bridge?

LA21st

07-13-2006, 10:36 PM

I will check CDOT's construction spreadsheet for start and finish dates.

Chicago2020

07-14-2006, 03:10 AM

United HQ heading for Chicago
Officials expected to announce move to 77 W. Wacker this weekend

(Crain’s) — Chicago has emerged as the all-but-certain location for United Airlines’ new headquarters, sources close to the matter reported late Thursday, with the carrier likely to move 350 top staffers to a high-rise at 77 W. Wacker Dr. overlooking the Chicago River.

Sources said that an announcement that “Chicago’s hometown carrier” is staying home may come by the end of the weekend. The announcement would follow what are described as serious talks during the week between United and the owners of the 77 W. Wacker, where R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. formerly was based.

United, which currently is based in suburban Elk Grove Township, has 16,000 employees in the Chicago area, more than in any other metropolitan region. But the firm has made clear its decision would be based on its own financial situation, and the city and state reportedly have responded with an incentive package worth more than $20 million to United, which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year.

The proposed perks include tax increment financing, job training credits and possible relief from city and state jet fuel taxes that would also be extended to other airlines that purchase significant amounts of fuel in Illinois.

Related Article Topics | Related Industry News
Also on the table: whether United still has exclusive rights to its gates at O’Hare after defaulting on bonds used to finance the facility while it was operating under Chapter 11 protection. The airline is still litigating that matter with the city in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

San Francisco and Denver were also vying for United’s headquarters.

“We still continue to discuss our options with officials in Chicago, Denver and San Francisco,” a United spokeswoman, who declined to provide details on the talks, said earlier Thursday. Chicago and Illinois officials also have declined to discuss the items under negotiation.

While Denver economic development officials were prepared to make a rich offer to United, they were never asked to do so, says Tom Clark, executive vice-president for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. “We have not heard anything from United,” he says. “We don’t expect to hear anything from United.”

United officials are focusing on 77 W. Wacker Dr. after visiting several downtown office towers. Among the skyscrapers they also considered:

190 S. LaSalle, which formerly housed Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP
115 S. LaSalle St., the Harris Bank complex
200 W. Madison St., space formerly occupied by Hyatt Corp.

nomarandlee

07-14-2006, 04:45 AM

Awesome!!! I sure as hell hope that Daley has the elite number crunches when figuring out all these corporate incentive stuff. It will be nice getting another high profile major into downtown though.

the urban politician

07-14-2006, 06:12 PM

trvlr70

07-14-2006, 06:16 PM

^ I'm going to quote my previous post because it was basically ignored, and I DEMAND A RESPONSE :whip:
No idea. Sorry.

Chi_Coruscant

07-18-2006, 11:11 AM

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-esquire18.html

Once-lavish Esquire theater may be nearing end of run

July 18, 2006

BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter

Chicago's Esquire theater, 58 E. Oak, a once lavish movie house that dates from the 1930s, could be near the end of its run.

The Esquire's owner wants to tear it down and replace it with small buildings for retail tenants.

Ald. Burton Natarus, whose 42nd Ward includes the Esquire, said he's been shown plans that call for buildings no taller than four stories. He said he supports the project because the new construction would attract quality stores into buildings similar to those that exist on Oak Street.

"Certainly, we have to look at our options for the property,'' said the owner, Mark Hunt of M Development LLC. "But nothing is definitive and there are no timetables for starting construction.''

Can't compete with megaplex

Hunt declined further comment. A source familiar with the project said that under one scenario, the theater would be closed in about 18 months.

The source said the new construction would total more than 100,000 square feet and that Hunt is aggressively marketing the space to stores that want an Oak Street address. The street has carved an identity near Michigan Avenue as a locale for luxury and specialty retailers who can pay top-dollar rents, sometimes hitting $300 a square foot for street frontage.

Rents decline above the first floor, and it's possible Hunt's project could include a restaurant, medical offices or other uses on the upper levels.

Showing movies, in the meantime, has been a tough business for the Esquire. The property has deteriorated under a succession of management firms. The current one is the AMC chain, which has a financial incentive to direct the most popular films to bigger and newer theaters downtown that it also controls.

"Movies are just a killer at the Esquire," the source said. "It's impossible to compete with the River East,'' a 21-screen AMC megaplex at Illinois and Columbus.

The Esquire began as a single, 1,400-seat auditorium and was converted to a six-screen theater in 1988. The City Council in 1994 rejected landmark status for the theater, saying that the earlier renovation destroyed much of its architectural heritage.

Natarus said Hunt would not need a zoning change for his project, but would need to bring it before the Chicago Plan Commission under terms of the city's Lakefront Protection Ordinance.

brian_b

07-18-2006, 12:47 PM

I have long noticed that there are some nice looking historic buildings near the Jefferson Place/Jefferson Tower buildings recently constructed in the west loop. Please view these links:

This one to the left:

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=292884

The two buildings to the right:

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=281069

And here below, right across, a very nice building with one of those water towers on the roof:

http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=434995

The Jefferson buildings themselves are crap, but this intersection has potential to be kind of interesting--older historic buildings mixed in with the modernism of the new CTA headquarters, plus some highrise condos and retail, all along the L tracks.

But it all gets ruined if too many of these historic buildings are lost. Does anybody know if there are efforts underway to protect these structures?

^ I'm going to quote my previous post because it was basically ignored, and I DEMAND A RESPONSE :whip:

Well alright then! I have no idea if any of these buildings have an active preservation effort or not.

I can say that all 4 are occupied, but of the 4 I would be most worried about #1. It is not in very good condition and the sidewalk in front of it is garbage, though every few months someone comes by and replaces the boards that cover up the dangerous holes in the sidewalk. I'm guessing there's a plan in the works...

#4 is in excellent condition, and must have been restored within the last 5-10 years. Whoever did it spent a lot of money on it too. From the outside it really looks great.

#2 and #3. The Jefferson Tower designers took great pain to make their parking garage entrance blend in well with these two buildings. It stands to reason that they thought those buildings would be there for a long time to come.

EDIT - More on #1. This building has a full size lot that stretches all the way to Des Plaines, where this is an entrance to their private parking lot. Cars are double parked during the weekdays, so I would guess the building is fairly busy. On the Des Plaines side there is a newish painted iron fence around the lot. A few months ago, a car jumped the curb and took out a section of the fence. It still hasn't been replaced. Just some yellow caution tape strung between the empty fenceposts. The owner of this lot is definitely not eager to keep it looking nice.

the urban politician

07-18-2006, 01:53 PM

^ Very informative, thanks.

That's too bad about building number 1, since it's actually kind of nice.

Chicago2020

07-28-2006, 04:16 AM

Are there any renderings for that new pedestrian bridge at the Art Institute??

Loopy

07-28-2006, 11:39 PM

Are there any renderings for that new pedestrian bridge at the Art Institute??

This is the best one that I can find:

http://www.chicagoloopalliance.com/businessloop/images/AICnewwing2.jpg

jpIllInoIs

08-14-2006, 02:42 PM

Chicago Tribune theatre critic Chris Jones wrote a great article on Chicago Theatre scene. It seems the Loop Theatre district has finally earned an open run, big production. Clearly this is a powerful sign that the 20 year long investment in Loop infrastructure is paying off.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0608120249aug13,1,6831521.story?coll=chi-leisure-utl

How 'Wicked' run has broken Chicago's curse

By Chris Jones
Tribune theater critic
Published August 13, 2006

The announcement came in Los Angeles, but it actually was a vote of confidence in Chicago. And it means that the Chicago production of "Wicked" -- the show that has revolutionized the perceptions of Broadway in the Loop -- is staying put at the Oriental Theatre. For many more months. Maybe for several more years.

On July 17, the producers of "Wicked" announced that a new production of their hit musical would open next spring at the Pantages Theatre in L.A. That was unsurprising -- "Wicked" has grossed more than $350 million to date in New York, Chicago and on tour, and a new company designed specifically for the nation's second-largest city was an obvious step to take. But there was a big surprise that day for many people who follow the vicissitudes of Broadway shows.

Los Angeles wasn't getting the Chicago production. Even though that had been the plan all along.

In New York, the thinking about Chicago has changed. Drastically.

"Finally the curse has been lifted," says Roche Schulfer, the executive director of the Goodman Theatre. "Now producers look at Chicago, and they see a huge city, and they see money. Really, this is a very big moment in the history of the Chicago theater."

In a study released last month and based on an extensive survey of theater-goers, the League of American Theatres and Producers found that "theater-motivated individuals" in large cities such as Chicago spend an average of about $92 per person on dining, hotels, parking, shopping and the like on the nights they are going to a Broadway-style show. Using those figures, that would mean an additional year of "Wicked" is worth more than $86 million to the North Loop businesses that surround the theater.

When the Chicago company of "Wicked" was first announced in the Tribune on March 22, 2005, it was billed as an indefinite run. But in the touring Broadway business -- where costs and risks are high and theaters can get locked up months or even years in advance -- producers always need a more specific plan, even if they don't always care to reveal it.

In the case of "Wicked," producer David Stone actually was anticipating a Chicago run at the Oriental Theatre of 12-18 months -- and that was in his best-case scenario. That meant the show would be able to move to L.A. in early 2007, opening up another huge market and saving the multimillion dollar costs of developing a whole other company from scratch.

"Eighteen months was our original goal in Chicago," Stone admits, "and our initial plans then involved taking the show to L.A. But the show is doing so well in Chicago, we realized it would be stupid to leave."

So what's the secret plan now?

"We don't have a specific goal anymore," insists Stone, who produces "Wicked" in partnership with Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group and Jon B. Platt. "Our thinking now about Chicago is all about how you stay somewhere permanently. And that requires a whole other way of talking to your potential audience."

Permanence and theater aren't easy bedfellows, of course. But there has been speculation in New York -- where the sold-out show carries a box-office advance of some $32 million -- that "Wicked" could easily run another 10 years. In Chicago, where the advance is still a healthy $13 million despite much shorter booking periods, the run could easily last another two or three years -- if not more. Ever since the show began its Chicago run, it has sold almost all the available tickets at the Oriental Theatre at full price. The weekly gross this summer has been about $1.2 million, week in and week out."Wicked" puts a new block of tickets on sale to the public Sunday, covering performances through February. Sales are expected to be brisk.

Clearly, this is good news for city boosters. Broadway in Chicago estimates that one-quarter of the tickets to the show now are sold to patrons outside the Chicago area.

Leads to hotel stay

"Because we draw so heavily on the Midwest region, we always need a compelling reason for someone to come to Chicago again," says Dorothy Coyle, Chicago's Director of Tourism. "This show gets people to make plans. And since it's an evening event, that naturally leads to a hotel stay. Which brings the city revenue from the hotel tax."

You could also argue that the new commitment by "Wicked" provides substantial vindication for Mayor Richard M. Daley's promotion of the incremental use of public funds to create the Loop theater district -- which initially was criticized for inactivity. "The show is now the anchor tenant," says Schulfer. "And that makes a very big difference to the whole thing."

In many ways, "Wicked" is the culmination of a renaissance that began with the hit Chicago tryout of "The Producers" in 2000 and has continued, with some notable stutters, ever since. Given the plans already in place for the next several years, it's hard to imagine another time in the near future when Loop theaters are sitting empty for significant periods of time.
The initial idea to create a sit-down "Wicked" company for Chicago -- a concept that has proved very profitable for many people -- belonged to James M. Nederlander, the patriarch of the theater-owning family that owns many Broadway theaters, along with half of the Broadway in Chicago presenting and real-estate partnership. Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel Entertainment) is Nederlander's partner in Chicago.

"I've always said Chicago was a run town," Nederlander said from his New York office. "I remember when the Shuberts had seven theaters there. Then they gave up on the place. I always though that was a mistake."

It was Nederlander who persuaded Stone to create the Chicago company and let it stay. "That show is a big hit," Nedlander says, "Why not?"

History contained several reasons why not.

Not for decades

Exactly why Chicago -- despite its size -- had decades of trouble establishing itself as a place that would support long-running Broadway shows is a matter of speculation. Oft-cited reasons include everything from simple neglect by New York producers to the large number of competing non-profit theaters to anti-Chicago naysayers in New York. Some cite the many years lacking a cohesive local management of the Broadway-style theaters in the Loop, and others suggest that the exacting standards of former Tribune critic Claudia Cassidy had a chilling effect on shows at a crucial time when the commercial theater was shrinking and changing.

Whatever the history and the reasons, "Wicked" (which, interestingly enough, got mixed reviews in Chicago) clearly has swept them all away for the foreseeable future.

The success of "Wicked" (which is a national rather than a Chicago phenomenon) cannot be easily duplicated, of course. But "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," another Broadway show with a dedicated Chicago company, has already recouped its initial (and modest) $1 million costs and now looks set to play the Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre through the end of 2007, if not beyond. "Spelling Bee" also is produced by Stone, but other producers now seem ready to come to Chicago to test the Nederlander theory.

In the spring, Scott Sanders' production of "The Color Purple" will begin a Chicago run at the Cadillac Palace with Oprah Winfrey's name above the title. If sales are relatively modest, it will decamp for another city after a few months. If tickets sell at "Wicked" levels (which could happen), Sanders says he will create another company and leave "The Color Purple" in Chicago, alongside its "Wicked" twin.

VivaLFuego

08-18-2006, 07:16 PM

Bravo to Daley...
...now just answer me a few questions about TIFs

spyguy

08-18-2006, 07:25 PM

Glad to see he's not holding back. That's the mayor we all love :D

Chi_Coruscant

08-20-2006, 12:22 PM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0608200188aug20,1,5441474.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Loop lights up with a retail wick
Rebounding from decades of decline, the Loop has dusted itself off and is undergoing a renaissance as a magnet for tourists, shoppers and other spenders--and taxpayers--drawn to stores, theaters, rest

By Sandra Jones
Tribune staff reporter
Published August 20, 2006

At 7 p.m. on a recent weekday the crowd was so thick outside the Oriental Theater in the Loop for the show "Wicked" that passersby had to walk single file near the edge of the sidewalk just to get by.

Around the corner, diners waited outside for 30 minutes for tables at Petterino's, a steakhouse in a corner building that stood vacant only six years ago.

And two blocks away, dozens of shoppers leafed through handbags and sundresses at Nordstrom Rack and H&M on State Street, where stores are now lit up long after office workers have gone home.

Not long ago the Loop was a ghost town after 6 p.m. on a weeknight. Restaurateurs and bar owners wouldn't go near it, following instead the trail of night-lifers to trendy neighborhoods to the north and west.

Not anymore.

Real estate experts confirm what has become increasingly apparent: There is a bona fide retail renaissance taking shape in the Loop, one of Chicago's oldest and best-known destinations but one that was long ago left behind as other areas, especially north of the Chicago River, flourished with restaurants and shopping.

Thanks in large part to a $60-million investment to revive the theater district and $475 million spent to build Millennium Park, a record number of retailers and restaurants are moving into the Loop looking to benefit from the influx of tourists, residents and students who hang out downtown long after offices have closed.

"It's definitely paid off," said Allen Joffe, principal broker at Chicago-based Baum Realty Group Inc., a real estate firm tracking the Loop's retail revival.

The Loop retail market posted a banner year in 2005, with 89 new leases signed, topping the previous record in 2004 of 60, according to an annual study from Baum Realty. That's almost triple the 34 leases signed in 2003, Joffe said.

What's more, the gross average asking rent rose 10.3 percent, to $58.52 per square foot a year in 2005, from $53.04 in 2004. The 2005 rate was the highest since the firm began tracking rents eight years ago.

Not surprisingly, almost half of the new leases signed in 2005 were for food service, with 20 fast-food outlets, 13 coffee shops and seven full-service restaurants. But in a sign of the longstanding belief that the revival is here to stay, another 27 deals were for specialty stores, including six for apparel.

More tax money

The renewal is likely to result in an influx of new tax revenue from one of the biggest money pits in the city. Several mayoral administrations have spent tens of millions of dollars trying to lure retailers back downtown with little or no success.

Attracting more restaurants and national retailers to the Loop not only boosts the city's image but also helps pay for city services at a time when operating budget shortfalls are a common occurrence. Chicago restaurant sales in particular represent more than 20 percent of the sales tax revenue the city collects each year, making restaurants the fastest-growing retail category in the city, said John C. Melaniphy, founder and president of Melaniphy & Associates Inc., a Chicago-based retail consulting firm.

The streets that experienced the most activity were Michigan Avenue, State Street, Madison Street and Randolph Street, Baum said.

Retailers had avoided the Loop for decades, particularly State Street, the city's first major shopping district. The street lost cachet to North Michigan Avenue in the 1970s and then chased away traffic when it was closed to autos from 1979 to 1996 in an ill-conceived attempt to create a pedestrian-friendly outdoor shopping mall. As recently as 2004, retail vacancies for specialty stores on State Street surpassed 20 percent, according to Northern Realty Group Ltd. That figure dropped to 4.6 percent last fall.

Claudia Martin, who moved to an office building turned condo in the heart of the Loop five years ago, has watched the transformation from her living room.

"We used to joke you could lie down in the street on a Saturday afternoon and no one would run over you," said Martin.

Now, fast-food lunch spots are staying open later and on the weekends. Tanning salons and dry cleaners are hanging up shingles. And fashionable restaurants and shops are starting to move in.

Among the new tenants in 2005: Morton's The Steakhouse, Kamehachi, Hannah's Bretzel, Cereality, Ace Hardware, Barnes & Noble, Claire's Accessories and Ann Taylor Loft.

The neighborhood even got its first trendy boutique, an accessories and handbag shop called Nakamol on South Michigan Avenue that would fit just as well in Bucktown or Lincoln Park.

The pace remains strong for 2006. Restaurants including California Pizza Kitchen, McCormick & Schmick's and Elephant & Castle are adding to the nightlife. And apparel retailers such as Annie Sez, Urban Outfitters and Chernin's shoe store are filling in State Street.

Kevin and Alan Shikami, the brothers who run the chic Kevin restaurant in River North, plan to open a second restaurant later this year, this one in the Loop.

The Asian restaurant, to be called Shikago, will serve lunch and dinner and host wine tastings.

Alan Shikami said he hopes the upscale outpost will help change the way people look at the Loop. "I've always thought the Loop was a peculiar and unfortunately underutilized area," Shikami said via e-mail. "I always wondered why it could not resemble Manhattan. Why did the Loop have to be so focused on business and devoid of other life?"

Much of the Loop's rebirth can be traced to Millennium Park's opening two years ago. Held up as a model use of urban public space, the free concerts, stunning architecture and gardens attract an estimated 3 million visitors a year. Priceline.com named Millennium Park the most requested travel destination this summer, according to a study of the top 50 summer travel destinations, released in June.

"The transformation is phenomenal," said Chris Holtebeck, a tourist from Appleton, Wis., who has watched Chicago change. "There's just so much to see. And I feel safe."

Some parents feel the same way. It's not unusual to find Kregg Kaducha pushing a stroller around the Loop after 8 p.m., something he wouldn't have considered before the redevelopment took place. His sons, ages 2 and 5, run up and down the terraced stairs at the newly opened Wabash Plaza along the Chicago river and gaze at skyscrapers.

"It's cheap entertainment," said Kaducha. "I hope the development continues. It encourages more people to come around here."

$100 per square foot

As part of the upturn, real estate agents say they are seeing landlords for the first time asking for retail rents of $100 per square foot, a price typically reserved for outposts in River North.

Rents in some spots south of the river have doubled since Millennium Park opened, said David Stone, founder of Chicago-based Stone Real Estate Corp. and a veteran broker for downtown retail real estate.

"It's in quite high demand," said Stone.

That's not to say there aren't still dead zones. The Loop office market, for example, is a mixed bag. While the West Loop is one of the hot spots for new office space, there are some office buildings in the Central Loop that have as much as 40 percent to 60 percent of their space available.

And State Street still has a gaping hole across from Marshall Field's, where the long-troubled Block 37 project is moving ahead in fits and starts. Developer Mills Corp., plagued by financial setbacks, reduced the retail space, yet to be constructed, at 108 N. State St. to 265,000 square feet from more than 400,000 square feet originally projected.

The Loop retail market's overall retail vacancy rate rose 1.12 percentage points in 2005 to 17.8 percent, according to Baum. The higher vacancy rate reflects in large part new projects that have yet to be leased, such as the Heritage at Millennium Park and the MetraMarket food court and retail center in the West Loop near the train tracks, Joffe said.

The Baum report covers the roughly 106-square-block Loop retail market bounded by Wacker Drive, Michigan Avenue, Van Buren Street and the Kennedy Expressway.

As an indication of how ready the Loop is to show off its new after-work persona, the Chicago Loop Alliance, an organization of Loop businesses, is working with the city to host the first dusk-to-dawn party on May 7 modeled after the popular "White Night" festivals in Paris and Rome. Stores, restaurants, museums and the park will stay open into the wee hours of the morning.

"There's been such tremendous growth here," said Ty Tabing, executive director of the alliance and former assistant commissioner at the city's planning department. "The objective is to highlight the Loop as much more than a place to go to work every day."

The alliance is preparing its own study, due out by Labor Day, to measure the economic growth of the Loop in the wake of Millennium Park. The Loop's residential population soared 50 percent from 2000 to 2006 to more than 13,000 people, according to Tabing. And residents have plenty of money to spend. The average household income is about $120,000.

"I really think the Loop has an incredible potential to be a true Chicago-style neighborhood," said Doug Zell, founder and CEO of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea Inc. Zell opened his second coffeehouse in the Loop on Randolph Street across from Millennium Park in April. "You've got people living there. You've got people working there. It's just getting started."

LA21st

08-20-2006, 01:49 PM

It really is amazing what has happened there. Michigan Ave (south of the river) on the weekends feels like rush hour in many other cities. A few more years, it might rival North Michigan Ave for pedestrian traffic, and everyone knows how busy that is. Weekday rush hour ALREADY does rival it. More and more people are coming to the Loop after 5.

Wild Onion Mike

08-21-2006, 11:39 PM

The place that has changed most dramatically in the Loop is the intersections along Roosevelt, between State and Michigan Ave. What a great urban environment that has turned into; elevated trains, sidewalk level shopping, heavy pedestrian usage, college students, commuters, tourists going to the Museum Campus. It looks terrific!

Busy Bee

08-23-2006, 04:10 PM

^*sick feeling in stomach (again)

trvlr70

08-26-2006, 02:24 PM

City Place Apartments.....oh my God! A total architectural abomination.

I'm surprised Kamin didn't note the Michigan Av. Marriott. What a loser!

BVictor1

08-29-2006, 01:34 PM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0608290212aug29,1,6883272.story?coll=chi-business-hed

Architecture firm looks for `next steward'
Graham Anderson is put on the block

By Susan Diesenhouse
Tribune staff reporter
Published August 29, 2006

A Chicago architectural firm that traces its roots back to planning visionary Daniel Burnham is for sale and seems destined to disappear in its current form.

"I'm looking for the next steward to carry on the history of this amazing firm," Robert E. Surman, the 44-year-old president and owner of Graham Anderson Probst & White Corp., said Monday.

Generations ago various permutations of this partnership designed masterpieces such as the Wrigley Building, Shedd Aquarium, Merchandise Mart, the Civic Opera, the Post Office building and Union Station. But in the last few decades the firm's staff has been reduced significantly and its projects have become less grandiose.

Still, Surman hopes to find another firm or person, he said, "who will take an aggressive approach to high-quality architecture" and preserve the firm's extensive historic archive of blueprints, drawings and photographs, including a copy of the 1909 Chicago Plan designed and signed by Burnham.

Sometime this fall Surman, whose father, William, led the storied design and planning firm from the late 1960s through the mid-1990s, plans to become a vice president for architecture and development at HomeMade Pizza Co. on the North Side.

With some of America's most notable beaux-arts and art deco creations in its portfolio, "they are one of the iconic firms in the American [architecture] cosmos," Robert Ivy, editor in chief of Architectural Record, said of Graham Anderson Probst & White.

"In the early 20th Century they were capable of making buildings of great clarity and power like Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum and Union Station in Chicago and D.C.," Ivy added. "They combine neo-classical design with a heroic scale that few have matched in the intervening years."

But by the 1970s the firm that once could boast more than 200 designers, draftsmen and engineers had scaled down. Since then it has consisted of about a dozen people, and in a 2004 publication that profiled Illinois architectural firms it is listed as having seven architectural professionals on staff.

Surman and his father prided themselves on the high quality of their work. But the firm's recent standout projects, such as the 500,000-square-foot, mixed-use building at 2 East Erie St., first occupied in 2002, are few and their pipeline of future projects seems slim.

The firm has a roster of corporate clients for whom it regularly works, but Surman explained that "like many service businesses, these relationships may continue with the firm or with the other employees who may move on."

As a result, he said, if the firm is sold it will probably fetch considerably less than $1 million.

"No one buys a portfolio," explained Paul Nakazawa, an international consultant who teaches architecture at Harvard University.

"In any profession it's the people who make the firm, and if they aren't there the value isn't really there," he said.

To assess the value of a design firm a potential buyer will consider several factors, and if it likes what it sees it will pay some multiple of earnings for it, said Scott Simpson, president and chief executive of Stubbins Associates in Cambridge, Mass.

A buyer will calculate the average annual gross fee per professional and the firm's gross profit, and perhaps add some premium.

"A buyer looks at the portfolio, clients, reputation, work in progress and future work," Simpson said.

"They must be able to make back their investment and retain the firm's intellectual capital," he said.

That Surman is planning to leave soon could influence a sale outcome, said architect Daniel Coffey, head of Daniel P. Coffey & Associates Ltd. in Chicago.

"When a person just leaves, typically that diminishes a firm's value," he said. But the firm's footprint has been fading, he added, and "you don't hear much about their projects."

Graham Anderson Probst & White has been doing corporate interiors and other work for public agencies and companies such as Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. and Chicago-based Unitrin Inc., but Surman said it has not engaged in international commissions, a major source of billings for U.S design firms.

In the first few decades of the 20th Century, earlier incarnations of the firm were at the heart of a Golden Age of American architecture, said Sally Chappell, author of a book on the firm, "Transforming Tradition: Architecture and Planning of Graham Anderson Probst & White."

"They were one of the largest firms in the great building period of American architecture, during the teens and 1920s," she said.

All of the partners who formed the firm in 1917 had worked for Daniel Burnham. They developed a reputation for reinterpreting classical and European design motifs to create monumental structures that inspired awe but also enhanced the efficient functioning of cities such as Chicago, New York and Washington.

For instance, Chappell said, Union Station in Chicago was designed to be a statement of civic grandeur but also to ease traffic that approached from the river, highways and city streets.

"They designed special ramps for taxis to drop off passengers without delaying traffic on the streets," she said. Meanwhile, under the colonnade, train "passengers could be out of the weather while they waited."

Surman is well aware of the firm's heritage that he hopes can be preserved.

"They took classical and European architectural styles and applied them to a variety of building types such as banks, offices and museums," he said "That made them unique."

----------

sdiesenhouse@tribune.com

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

the urban politician

09-07-2006, 11:53 PM

^ Looks good, I remember seeing that article before. Just curious--does anyone know what this park is replacing?

Wild Onion Mike

09-08-2006, 12:40 AM

At the moment the site is a vacant lot at a very busy intersection. I'm happy to see the park going in but wish it was a little larger. It's across the street from the Harold Washinton Cultural Center, a theater/concert hall with a 1,000 person seating capacity. Great to have this historic intersection become such a civic minded/community enriching focal point.

no-la-usa

09-11-2006, 11:38 PM

Good For Mayor Daley. That is why Chicago is so great because it has a Mayor who puts reason above politics. This ordinance would accomplish none of its supposed objectives, all the while steering tax dollars, jobs, and cosumers to nearby suburbs at the expense of the city. If you dont like working for the amount these stores pay, get an education and work some other place.

Cheers,
Derek

nomarandlee

09-30-2006, 11:26 AM

not a big development but could serve as a nice little downtown tourist attraction.....

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/78174,CST-NWS-ship30.article

Floating maritime museum may dock downtown

September 30, 2006
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter

Ahoy, Chicago: A new floating museum aboard a former Coast Guard ship is coming to the city, with plans to eventually moor downtown.
The 180-foot-long, 74-foot-tall cutter, built in 1944, will be moved in mid-October from Indiana to the Far South Side, where it will dock for the winter at an old U.S. Steel boat slip, Gov. Blagojevich announced Friday.

Obtained at no cost to the state as federal government surplus, the USCGC Acacia is "essentially a complete time capsule," said Marty Hecker, an official with the nonprofit group that will oversee the craft.

"She's in excellent shape," said Hecker, vice president of the American Academy of Industry, the group that plans to open it in 2007 as a museum of maritime and military history.

Blagojevich envisions the ship as a downtown tourist attraction.

The city has discussed docking the red-and-black boat on the Chicago River or at Northerly Island, the former home of Meigs Field, Hecker said.

Or, the craft could end up anchoring the 17-acre site of the former steel plant at 87th and the lake, now being converted into park land by the Chicago Park District, Hecker said.

Similar vessels in other cities have been used as places for youth groups such as the Boy Scouts to "camp" overnight -- a role Hecker envisions for the Acacia.

More than 6,000 crew members served on the Acacia during its 62 years of service. Used primarily on the Great Lakes as a rescue and maintenance vessel and for ice breaking, it never saw combat.

Another group, the Chicago Maritime Society, has also expressed interest in a museum at Northerly Island. Board member David Metzger said Friday his group still wants to open a permanent museum.

aherrmann@suntimes.com

SamInTheLoop

10-14-2006, 10:05 PM

Just wondering if anyone here attended the Friends of Downtown forum this week on the future of Wabash? I had intended to go but couldn't make it...
If so, would love to hear if anything interesting was mentioned or discussed...

Frankie

10-15-2006, 10:26 AM

Marvel 33 has placed a link to his website (newcityskyline) on the boom rundown, giving a very-well written summary of the future of wabash and what was discussed at the Friends of Downtown Forum

jpIllInoIs

10-17-2006, 12:13 PM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0610170202oct17,1,1436032.story?coll=chi-leisuretempo-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Chicago Tribune article in todays TEMPO section.

Loop U.
Packed with students, dorm rooms and educational facilities, the 1.65-square-mile area bounded by the Chicago River, Wacker Drive, Roosevelt Road and the Lakefront is THE LARGEST COLLEGE TOWN IN ILLIN

By Patrice M. Jones
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 17, 2006

In a patch of perfect lawn across the street from Buckingham Fountain, Mike Perry and two other Roosevelt University students took a break from classes downtown recently to enjoy a game of Frisbee in Grant Park.

There was the Sears Tower gleaming in the distance in the afternoon sun to one side of them; the iconic fountain and the lakefront on the other.

"Where else could you find a campus quad better than Grant Park?" said Jesse Hernandez, 19, who met Perry only a few weeks ago when the two started the fall semester living in the massive downtown dormitory called University Center that houses students from Roosevelt, Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University.

"You can't beat it," he said.

You can find the backpack- and iPod-wearing set hanging out in droves near University Center, the high-rise that opened two years ago at 525 S. State St. The lobby and sidewalk outside the "UC" are informal gathering spots where South Loop dwellers share ideas about the best places to eat, find a book or bar hop. College students also are invading Grant Park for the free concerts and festivals, and trolling downtown for other entertainment.

Last year, an economic analysis confirmed the trend, dubbing a 1.65-square-mile area bounded by the Chicago River, Wacker Drive, Roosevelt Road and the lakefront, the "largest college town in Illinois." It boasted 52,000 students and more than 20 institutions of higher education occupying more than double the space of the Sears Tower.

The economic study was conducted by the Regional Economic Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was sponsored by the Greater State Street Council and the Central Michigan Avenue Association, which merged last year and is now called the Chicago Loop Alliance.

The study -- meant to track the growth of Loop facilities devoted to higher education -- also found that the number of residential beds offered by academic institutions in the Loop numbered almost 4,000. That number is not huge in comparison with some other institutions. The University of Illinois at Chicago alone, for example, has 3,100 student beds. But the figure was an unexpected bright spot for campuses downtown that had been long known largely as commuter schools.

"We were pretty surprised by the numbers," said Ty Tabing, executive director of the Chicago Loop Alliance. "We planned to look at higher education as sort of a new recruiting tool for businesses interested in the area, but when we started doing the research, we found out a number of universities were experiencing tremendous growth and adding facilities at a rate we hadn't expected."

The higher education study found some additional interesting facts: Loop colleges and universities collectively represent one of Chicago's top 25 employers with over 12,000 workers; college students spend more than $25 million annually at area businesses in the Loop; and seven institutions alone hosted events in one year that attracted a half-million people.

Big plans

Ten institutions alone also spent $159 million in facility construction and improvements over a five-year period and collectively the Loop's schools plan to spend almost $340 million in capital projects by the end of the decade.

The higher education study now is more than a year old, and the downtown growth continues.

Farther north, Loyola University Chicago -- though not part of the Loop study -- cut a giant red ribbon on its new $51 million, 25-story high-rise downtown student residence last month featuring furnished apartments at 26 E. Pearson St. near Water Tower Place. The facility, which includes 627 beds, has been a big draw for students such as Thomas Marcuccilli of Fort Wayne, Ind.

"Growing up in a small town in Indiana, this is the kind of place where I could go to on vacation, and right now, it's right outside my door," said the gregarious junior. "People come to visit, and I can walk them straight out into the shops on North Michigan Avenue."

University officials say the reason for the growth is multifaceted: it is a collision of positives that have come from the growing allure of Chicago's downtown that has shed much its gritty image and now boasts Millennium Park, museums, and a thriving arts and theater scene.

At the same time, schools such as Columbia College and Roosevelt University with a longtime downtown presence increasingly have been transforming themselves from commuter to residential campuses -- attracting younger students and recruiting nationally and internationally. They also have been using their urban backdrop as a key selling point.

"Students come to downtown Chicago for the museums, the galleries, the bookstores, the performances -- all of it gets wrapped up into the experience of being at Columbia," said Mark Kelly, vice president for student affairs at Columbia College.

Columbia transformation

Columbia probably has had the biggest transformation. Columbia had about 15 percent of its freshmen living on campus three years ago; now that figure is about 58 percent. In addition, Columbia plans to add another 434 beds next fall, Kelly said. The university also has seen its enrollment jump about 16 percent since 2003 to 11,500 students.continue >> Still, students say there is room for improvement -- in a survey accompanying last year's Loop study, students reported there was a need for more affordable restaurants and parking, and the majority female students expressed concerns about walking alone in the Loop at night.

- - -

Life in the Loop. Students who study and live in downtown Chicago note a variety of reasons for

loving their environs. Here is what some of them had to say:

MIKE PERRY, a junior at Roosevelt University from Glen Ellyn, mentioned some distinct advantages to living downtown -- like dancing under the stars:

"Within my first couple of weeks here, there was a Latin night in Grant Park. I went with some friends and we just walked over there. There was a free, hourlong instruction period for tango and salsa. . . . Definitely, an icebreaker. Later, they were rotating partners, so I danced with a few ladies from Chicago that I would have never met otherwise."

BRITTANY NASH, a Columbia College freshman from Milwaukee, said:

"I know for me, coming from Milwaukee, our downtown is small. It all shuts down at 10 o'clock. So I just have been having fun walking around and seeing so many people outside, particularly at night. I actually just love looking out the windows and seeing all the lights from the city. I guess things like that people from Chicago take for granted."

GRAHAM HOPPE, a senior at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from Indianapolis, said he thought living downtown would be an amazing chance he might never have again. He said the major downside is the Loop's need for more affordable restaurants:

"Absolutely, cheaper, non-fast food would be great. We would all love that. And more community spaces where you don't feel compelled to spend money."

KEVIN MERKELZ, a Columbia College senior from Rolling Meadows, said he also is focused on employment opportunities:

"I find that a lot of students don't miss the frat house or sorority scene on a traditional campus. A lot of students who come to school down here are very self-motivated. I am a film and video student. Chicago is a booming market for editing and sound. So I am here to make friends, but ultimately I want to find a job and this is a good place to find internships. It is the best place to be -- not out in some cornfield in southern Illinois."

CHIOMA NWAKIBU, a DePaul University junior from Gaithersburg, Md., actually does a reverse commute, traveling from downtown to most of her classes at

DePaul's Lincoln Park campus -- just because she likes living downtown.

"My sister lives on a traditional college campus and she has had problems finding a job. Down here, there are just so many places downtown to work, do internships and so many other opportunities. I just feel I am a few steps ahead by living down here."

--Patrice M. Jones

- - -

State's largest `college town'

In 2005, researchers decided to look at higher education as an economic sector and study its impact on the Loop and South Loop. They were floored by what they found: The 1.65-square-mile area bounded by the Chicago River, Wacker Drive, Roosevelt Road and the lakefront is the largest college town in Illinois.

They found 52,000 students and more than 20 institutions of higher education occupied nearly 7.5 million gross square feet of Loop real estate -- more than double the space of the Sears Tower.

School residence facilities in the Loop offered almost 4,000 beds.

Loop colleges and universities collectively represented one of Chicago's top 25 employers, with more than 12,000 workers.

College students spent more than $25 million annually at area businesses in the Loop.

In one year, 7 academic institutions in the Loop attracted a half-million people to their events and programs.

Source: "Higher Education in the Loop and South Loop: An Impact Study"

----------

pjones@tribune.com

the urban politician

10-17-2006, 05:25 PM

Kevin J

10-17-2006, 09:17 PM

^ Yeah, apparantly Columbia has a huge space crunch. They have a LOT of expansion plans on the table, which is pretty exciting.

My only problem with this article is that they've chosen a pretty arbitrary set of boundaries for this "largest college town in Illinois". I wonder how much larger the student populations would be if they included other "central area" hoods such as Streeterville, River North, and UIC.

I wondered the same thing when I first came across this report. Geek that I am, I actually tried to find out the answer. Here are the numbers I was able to come up with. Some are incomplete estimates because schools like Loyola and Northwestern, don't report separate enrollment figures for their downtown campuses, only for the various schools/programs on those campuses.

-UIC: 25,000
-Northwestern (Streeterville): 2700
-Loyola (River North):1400 in Law School, Business School and Education. Other programs, enrollments unknown
-Illinois Institute of Art (in the Apparel Center): 2600
-Argosy University (in the Apparel Center): 1000
-IIT (West Loop): 1325 in Law and Business schools. Urban Planning enrollment unknown
-Chicago Cooking and Hospitality Institute (River North): 1050
-Erikson Institute (River North): 300
-University of Chicago (River North) 2000

TOTAL: 37,375+

In addition, the report quoted in the article also left out several schools/programs that are in the geographic area they covered, namely the MBA programs of Notre Dame, University of Illlinois (not UIC's Liataud Business School), and Keller. The Notre Dame MBA program is relatively new, so that's probably why it wasn't included.

Adding in what's missing probably gets you to 39,000 or 40,000, which is like adding another college town to the Central Area.

For what it's worth, I would exclude UIC from this count just because it is so physically separated from the Central Area by the expressway and so very much it's own community because of its size and distance from the Loop. Even the most generous definitions of the Central Area rarely extend west of Halsted.

But even without UIC, you're still talking about an additional 10-15,000 people if you just include River North/Streeterville and the West Loop.

Kevin J

10-18-2006, 03:16 AM

^ nice numbers.... what about School of the Art Insitute, Robert Morris, East-West Univ., Spertus.

The old post office would be a great re-use for expanding college space needs.

All the schools you named are in the area that the original study covered. So the enrollments for all of them are included in the 52,000 student figure quoted in the article. Again, all I was trying to do was count up the students that weren't included in that number because their schools are outside the boundaries of the study.

If you're asking what the enrollments are for the schools you listed just out of curiosity, I'm sure you can find them somewhere online.

The old post office is too geographically challenged for higher education purposes in the Loop. It's too far from the State-Wabash-Michigan corridor where most of the schools are located. This nexus of schools first happened due to chance, but is now being actively backed by the city (e.g. public money invested in DePaul's refurbished building at State and Jackson). Even with the mad condo construction in the south Loop, there are still tons of Class B and Class C buildings in that area for the schools to expand to when they're ready.

the urban politician

10-19-2006, 07:30 PM

-UIC: 25,000
-Northwestern (Streeterville): 2700
-Loyola (River North):1400 in Law School, Business School and Education. Other programs, enrollments unknown
-Illinois Institute of Art (in the Apparel Center): 2600
-Argosy University (in the Apparel Center): 1000
-IIT (West Loop): 1325 in Law and Business schools. Urban Planning enrollment unknown
-Chicago Cooking and Hospitality Institute (River North): 1050
-Erikson Institute (River North): 300
-University of Chicago (River North) 2000

TOTAL: 37,375+

^ These are just enrollments though, right? I think that's different from the number of students actually living in these areas.

the urban politician

10-19-2006, 07:32 PM

http://media1.suntimes.com/nixoncds/image/20061018_19_41_03_141-400-308.imageContent

^ I'm a bit confused--so this is threatened as well? What about that other building that was pictured a while back, that was supposed to be replaced by a highrise?

brian_b

10-20-2006, 01:55 PM

^ These are just enrollments though, right? I think that's different from the number of students actually living in these areas.

Yes, it is different. I know that Northwestern seems to be getting rid of their downtown dorms. Not that anybody lived in them anyway. It was always MUCH cheaper to rent a [much nicer] studio apartment in Streeterville. Even then, a lot of people don't live anywhere near Streeterville. Students can buy a ridiculously discounted parking pass for their parking garage. Northwestern runs a shuttle for students every half hour (or maybe it's every hour) between the downtown campus and the Evanston campus. It's easy to get to that area via bus or train so you can live pretty much anywhere in the city too. I would guess that no more than 1/3 of the downtown Northwestern students live downtown.

The other schools in that list are probably pretty similar.

museumparktom

10-20-2006, 05:30 PM

Anyone have information on this restoration on Wabash just south of the CNA building? This thing was pitch black derelict for years. It's really looking good and I wonder if this is residential or offices?

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/Mansmith_2006/DSCN2244.jpg

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l221/Mansmith_2006/DSCN2245.jpg

Emproris link of the CNA with some pic of this building
http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=225364

Kevin J

10-20-2006, 08:37 PM

^ These are just enrollments though, right? I think that's different from the number of students actually living in these areas.

Yes, these numbers are enrollments. Enrollment numbers are what the original article dealt with, including the 52,000 figure that the article mentioned. The study didn't attempt to quantify how many students actually live in the central area. An interesting question, to be sure, but it would be hard to count without doing a big multi-school student survey, since most would be living "off campus." I do know that the dormitory population in the Loop proper is about 4000 now. Loyola and Northwestern also have dorms on their downtown campuses, that between them probably house another 500 or so students.

I also know that despite the high cost of living downtown, the apartment buildings in Streeterville house many students who attend Northwestern's Chicago campus. Between the law and medical schools, it's probably about 1000 students. I also know that a fair number of students who attend the Chicago-Kent Law School in the West Loop live in Presidential Towers and in the Greektown area. Beyond that, the number of students actually living downtown is a mystery to me.

honte

10-21-2006, 04:50 AM

^ Looks good, I remember seeing that article before. Just curious--does anyone know what this park is replacing?

Hey everyone,

I had no idea this thread existed! Cool stuff. One more reason to love this forum.

TUP, about four years ago this lot contained a beautiful, four-story Romanesque flats building c. 1885. Alderman Tillman, in her infinite wisdom, decided that it should be torn down for this plaza that somehow "honors" jazz musicians - in the city ward with the most vacant lots, of course. :whip: She makes me sick.

the urban politician

10-21-2006, 01:45 PM

TUP, about four years ago this lot contained a beautiful, four-story Romanesque flats building c. 1885. Alderman Tillman, in her infinite wisdom, decided that it should be torn down for this plaza that somehow "honors" jazz musicians - in the city ward with the most vacant lots, of course. :whip: She makes me sick.

^ Oh my God, are you serious? That's terrible. Seriously, that bitch needs to get thrown out onto the sidewalk.

That "blues district" she's trying to form on 47nd street is a joke--things like that evolve naturally, not as part of a ridiculous 'master plan'. It's safe to say that she's the biggest obstacle to that part of the south side amounting to anything. As that area slowly gentrifies she'll get ousted, hat first.

honte

10-21-2006, 04:42 PM

Especially when she won't lift a finger for the real music or cultural institutions that do (did) exist in her ward - Palm Tavern, Checkerboard Lounge, the old movie theatre on 35th and Michigan, the Forum building at 43rd and King, etc.

I couldn't believe that "Plaza" development when I first saw it. There are lots all over the place there, and it's on one of the city's grandest boulevards. Who needs a plaza, and why do things need to be torn down? Plus, by tearing down that beautiful building, they have exposed the ugly blank rowhouse walls of the building to the south (shown in the rendering), and eroded the urban quality of the corner.

One thing I should mention is that I don't know exactly who started the talk of demolishing the structure. It may well have been the city's fast-track demolition program. But we all know that nothing goes down in her Ward without her control, so I really don't care how it started exactly. Even Landmarks is afraid to suggest things there, lest she start a tantrum.

the urban politician

10-25-2006, 10:51 PM

^ Yeah, I posted this article in another thread in response to a question by somebody. I agree with the inconsistency--3500 out of 5700 condos are under contract, which is about 70%. I'm no expert, but why exactly are we saying that sales aren't keeping up with inventory?

forumly_chgoman

10-27-2006, 05:15 AM

I say hang her from her Hat and drown her in the River....a fitting end

museumparktom

10-28-2006, 02:35 AM

Well Done. Ive been taking pics and posting them on SSC but nothing like this. From what I can see this will be a very dramatic entrance to the Museum Campus and Central Station.

forumly_chgoman

10-28-2006, 08:16 AM

^^^^Compleletly agree this is absolutley figgin awesome.....reallly......

Now I realize that this display will never have the immediate visceral impact the bean has, but I think this display is more timeless

the urban politician

10-28-2006, 03:56 PM

http://www.suntimes.com/business/114651,CST-FIN-store28.article
Loehmann's likes Loop
Fashion discounter to open store at State & Randolph

October 28, 2006
BY SANDRA GUY Business Reporter
Loehmann's, a discounter of designer fashions, will open its first store in Chicago next fall at the former Walgreen's location on the northeast corner of State and Randolph.
The store will take the first two levels of the Joffrey Tower, which will house the Joffrey Ballet's offices and rehearsal space and high-end condominiums.

Loehmann's chose the downtown site because of State Street's rebirth as a retail and student-housing mecca, and because people living downtown fit the Loehmann's shopper profile of a fashion-savvy woman whose household income is $85,000 or more, a company spokesman said Friday.

A Loehmann's shopper knows that she can get a good buy at $29.99, but she also understands that buying a top-notch, Italian designer handbag for $400 "is a steal," said Fred Forcellati, vice president of advertising for the Bronx, N.Y.-based Loehmann's.

Loehmann's has successfully emerged from a bankruptcy reorganization that saw the retailer reduce its presence in the Chicago market. In the mid-1990s, Loehmann's had stores in Morton Grove, Downers Grove and Orland Hills. The retailer now operates stores in Northbrook, Oak Brook and Morton Grove.

Loehmann's, now owned by an Islamic bank, operates 60 stores and intends to expand to 100 stores by 2010.

Retail expert Howard Davidowitz said Loehmann's will fill a niche because it is a dressier, more mature version of TJ Maxx.

"Loehmann's makes smaller buys [of merchandise] and therefore has a much more interesting inventory of actual designer and branded merchandise, plus private labels," said Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates Inc., a national retail consulting and investment banking firm in New York.

Wheelingman04

10-31-2006, 01:38 AM

^ Great news for State Street.

Frankie

10-31-2006, 09:01 AM

City could land floating museum
Non-profit group hopes to turn Coast Guard vessel into a riverfront attraction

By William Mullen
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 30, 2006

Long a welcome sight to mariners experiencing trouble on Lake Michigan, the recently retired U.S. Coast Guard cutter Acacia should soon be familiar to strollers and tourists along the banks of the Chicago River.

The decommissioned 180-foot icebreaker and buoy tender was donated to the state of Illinois, which is working with Chicago and the non-profit, locally based American Academy of Industry to make it into a riverfront museum dedicated to the city's rich maritime history.

Moored temporarily at Burns Harbor in Indiana, the 62-year-old Acacia is still outfitted with almost all its working gear--minus machine guns and ammunition.

"The Coast Guard sailed it in here, tied off and left it with us with the engine still running and food in the fridge," academy president Dan Hecker said as he showed off the vessel on a recent Sunday afternoon after the deal was announced.

The boat is to be shifted soon to a Chicago location for the winter. Both the city and the academy would like to have the ship open as a museum by next summer, Hecker said.

Hecker, 46, said he and his brother, Marty, 40, founded the academy in 1995 with the goal of turning a vessel into a maritime museum. Initially, the group boasted more than 200 members. But after years of failed attempts to find a ship, the active number dwindled to "maybe a dozen," he said.

"I was beginning to give the idea up when I got a call last April from a state official asking me if we would be interested in the Acacia," Dan Hecker said.

Plans to sell the ship to an African nation apparently had fallen through, and Coast Guard officials, reviewing their options, pulled a letter from the academy from their files. By law, the Coast Guard could not convey ownership to the academy but arranged to do it through state officials.

City sees benefits

City officials see the Acacia as an asset in their efforts to spruce up the Chicago River's image and are looking at several mooring spots, said Brian Steele, spokesman for the Transportation Department.

Ideally, he said, the ship would go along the river's main branch, perhaps between Clark and Dearborn.

"The concept of the ship becoming a maritime museum is a very appealing one," Steele said. "There are myriad issues that have to be settled in choosing a site for it, including easy public accessibility, making sure the ship does not disturb normal river navigation and incorporating it with city plans for a river walk."

Plans are for much of the ship to be maintained as a time capsule, showing how it worked up to the time of its retirement.

"The initial primary artifact for the museum is the Acacia itself," said Marty Hecker, a Coast Guard naval architect in Maryland. "It is an exceptional ship."......

the urban politician

10-31-2006, 02:45 PM

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/117552,CST-NWS-lakeforest31.article
Chicago is classroom for Lake Forest kids

October 31, 2006
BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter
Before going to college, Flor Rico spent little time in the city. "I was a suburbs girl,'' she said.

But now she is in the city as often as three times a week -- including taking a tour of Jane Addams' Hull House for a class last week -- and is considering teaching in the inner city when she graduates.

Rico, 21, of Mundelein, doesn't attend DePaul or Columbia or any campus in the city. Rather, she is a student at tiny Lake Forest College, a liberal arts school whose pristine campus is set in the middle of the affluent North Shore suburb.

Yet the college has embraced the city 34 miles to the south as few similar schools have, launching programs and courses to ensure its students take full advantage of all Chicago has to offer.

CITY COURSES IN THE SUBURBS
Some Chicago courses at Lake Forest College:
• • Medical Mysteries in Chicago

• • Chicago and the Global Economy

• • Sculpture of Abraham Lincoln in Chicago

• • The Funding of Public Education in Chicago

• • Educational Reform in Chicago

• • Social Life of Food

• • Exploring Cultural Stereotypes in Context: From Chicago to Paris

• • Religions of Asia in Chicago

• • Cultural Contributions of Chicago's Latino Communities

• • Reading Performance in Chicago

Operas, museums and Pilsen
The college -- which now bills itself as Chicago National Liberal Arts College -- opened the Center for Chicago Programs last year. Within days of setting foot on campus, the 400 new students take a trip downtown. One-third to one-half of required first-year studies courses incorporate Chicago into the curriculum.
Those classes include everything from public education funding in Chicago to Asian religions in the city to sculptures of Abraham Lincoln. Trips include visiting museums, attending operas, touring Pilsen and interviewing shopkeepers on Devon.

And 60 of the school's 1,400 students are doing internships for credit at Chicago institutions or businesses.

The school is also seeking to set up student-mentoring programs with Ethiopian and Cambodian community associations.

Because few students who attend the school come from the city itself, the courses are particularly eye-opening, officials said. About 60 percent of Lake Forest's are from out of state, and many hail from small towns or suburbs.

Visiting the South Side
Professors acknowledge that students are sometimes taken aback by the trips, including one to the former Stateway Gardens public housing complex, where students met tenants and community organizers.
"That completely blows their mind,'' said Paul Fischer, a political science professor. "Even white students from the suburbs, the idea of going to the South Side is a little bit challenging to them.''

But some of the lessons are simpler, like how to use public transportation. The school does not charter buses or drive cars, but puts students on the Metra, L and buses. Professor Michael Ebner -- who takes students to Hull House and Devon Avenue -- said inevitably, new students can't at first figure out how to put a farecard in a CTA turnstyle.

Growing up, Rico said, "I didn't like strangers. I didn't like public transportation. I was scared.''

She now has a completely different attitude, she said.

brian_b

11-01-2006, 01:43 PM

Continuing from the downtown student population discussion a few pages ago:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/119117,CST-NWS-loop01.article
Daley calls for more Loop dorms
Mayor Daley said Tuesday he wants to build more downtown "superdorms" -- this time with a "side entrance" for staff and faculty -- to turn the Loop into even more of a college town.
The new dorms would be modeled after University Center, the $151 million dormitory partnership between Columbia College, Roosevelt University and DePaul at State and Congress.

"We hope to explore more options, build more facilities [for] students who want to live in the downtown area. It's a great economic boon for the city," Daley said.

"We should have built a side-entrance for staff, professors and assistant professors. The next one we build, we're going to build an opportunity to keep much of their faculty in the downtown area as well."

Roosevelt President Chuck Middleton said the university is interested in "expanding its residential capacity downtown" by 450 beds. Whether or not it will be in a superdorm or a Roosevelt-only dorm is still under study, he said.

"We're growing, as are other institutions downtown. Everybody needs more beds downtown," he said.

The 18-story University Center opened in 2004 to 1,680 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. It has a laundry room with 75 washers and dryers, a game room and an exercise room.

The amenities don't come cheap. On opening day, a studio apartment with a kitchen and private bath went for $1,139 a month. Students sharing a traditional dorm room paid $723 a month and $2,200 for a meal plan.

dvidler

11-01-2006, 04:23 PM

SamInTheLoop

11-01-2006, 04:46 PM

A bit of a misleading article if you check the highlighted portion...

Condo sales fall for 2nd straight quarter
(Crain’s) — While the apartment market remains strong in Chicago and the suburbs, downtown condominium sales fell for a second straight quarter, raising concerns that a number of proposed high-rises may ultimately be scrapped.

Condo sales in new buildings fell to about 700 in the third quarter, down from about 1,200 in the second quarter and 1,600 in the first quarter. Sales this quarter also marked a 26% decline from the same period a year ago, according to a report to be released next month by Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago-based real estate consulting firm.

That’s bad news for developers, who generally need contracts for about half of their units to get financing required to begin construction.

“Some projects might not get built,” Gail Lissner, a vice-president at Appraisal Research, said during a presentation Wednesday at the Chicagoland Apartment Assn.’s industry outlook meeting.

Related Article Topics | Related Industry News
Appraisal Research tracks residential sales in the city's core, bounded by North Avenue, the lakefront, Cermak Road and as far west as Ashland Avenue.

Ms. Lissner noted that year-to-date condo sales have fallen only about 5% from last year’s record pace and still remain well above sales in the first nine months of 2004 and 2003.

The more stark figures: About 5,700 new condos are being marketed this year, most of which aren’t yet under construction, compared with just 4,700 that were marketed all of last year.

Of those 5,700 new condos, contracts have been signed on about 3,500 units through the third quarter, according to Appraisal Research data. “Sales aren’t keeping pace with new inventory,” Ms. Lissner said in an interview. Despite the decline in sales, Ms. Lissner said two condo developments that started this year are already under construction: CMK Co.’s 1720 S. Michigan Ave. and Mesa Development Co.’s The Legacy at Millennium Park. The third quarter provided more good news for apartment building owners, who are benefiting from job growth in the region along with tight supply because developers have been converting apartments into condominiums and not building many new apartment complexes.

Net apartment rents in the suburbs rose 5.9% in the third quarter from the year-earlier period, while rents downtown for “Class A” apartment buildings rose 8.9%.

Appraisal Research Vice-president Ron DeVries said he thinks the supply-demand trend will continue and cause rents in the suburbs and city to rise another 5% over the next 12 months.

By the way - I think I figured this one out - it's an error in the article. There have been 3,500 TOTAL new condo sales downtown 1st - 3rd quarter this year, not just units that started marketing this year. So of the 5,700 units that have thus far started marketing in 2006, we do not yet know how many have been sold (hopefully after Appraisal Research releases the report in the coming days, we will find out)...

SamInTheLoop

11-01-2006, 04:50 PM

VivaLFuego

11-01-2006, 05:27 PM

^^Great, great news. I think the city will use that spot at State & Van Buren (the so called park) as the place where they will sell to a developer. Its a perfect location for a dorm plus that park is used by bums and what not.
Who owns the parking lots on the NW and SW corners of Wabash/Van Buren? These are prime sites too. These used to be an ugly parking garage and some interesting 1-2 story buildings just a few years ago, if memory serves. Hope something big is cooking

SamInTheLoop

11-01-2006, 08:40 PM

Who owns the parking lots on the NW and SW corners of Wabash/Van Buren? These are prime sites too. These used to be an ugly parking garage and some interesting 1-2 story buildings just a few years ago, if memory serves. Hope something big is cooking

a transaction involving one of them was in the news in the past year or two...didn't there used to be a garage on one that was recently demolished...hhmmm D2? Terrapin? It's coming back to me....

SamInTheLoop

11-01-2006, 08:45 PM

^ it might not be one of those but I know an experienced residential developer owns one of them...

dvidler

11-01-2006, 09:13 PM

a transaction involving one of them was in the news in the past year or two...didn't there used to be a garage on one that was recently demolished...hhmmm D2? Terrapin? It's coming back to me....

Someone purchased the lot across the street from the Auditorium in plans for student housing. Not sure who or what the plans are.

Busy Bee

11-01-2006, 10:06 PM

...the landlords can make so much more money from a wide array of better retailers all clamoring for space on the street, that they are doing everything in their power to kick out the non-performing retailers, whether they be stuffy old department stores...

Your right, nothing says progress like losing iconic bastions like historical department stores that have been embedded in the identity of a place for generations.http://images.skyscraperpage.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

If even more homogenous corporate chain retailing at the expense of local institutions is heralded as progress, I fear for what we will welcome in the future. And I understand Carson's was owned by a larger corporate parent, but it held of very real regional Chicago image that should have stayed on State Street. I'm crossing my fingers for an announcment to reopen the store in the future.

All the great State Street department stores have been narrowed to one, who would have imagined it would be Sears?http://images.skyscraperpage.com/images/smilies/haha.gif

spyguy

11-01-2006, 10:11 PM

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/119117,CST-NWS-loop01.article

Daley calls for more Loop dorms
November 1, 2006

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Mayor Daley said Tuesday he wants to build more downtown "superdorms" -- this time with a "side entrance" for staff and faculty -- to turn the Loop into even more of a college town.

The new dorms would be modeled after University Center, the $151 million dormitory partnership between Columbia College, Roosevelt University and DePaul at State and Congress.

"We hope to explore more options, build more facilities [for] students who want to live in the downtown area. It's a great economic boon for the city," Daley said.

"We should have built a side-entrance for staff, professors and assistant professors. The next one we build, we're going to build an opportunity to keep much of their faculty in the downtown area as well."

Roosevelt President Chuck Middleton said the university is interested in "expanding its residential capacity downtown" by 450 beds. Whether or not it will be in a superdorm or a Roosevelt-only dorm is still under study, he said.

"We're growing, as are other institutions downtown. Everybody needs more beds downtown," he said.

The 18-story University Center opened in 2004 to 1,680 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. It has a laundry room with 75 washers and dryers, a game room and an exercise room.

The amenities don't come cheap. On opening day, a studio apartment with a kitchen and private bath went for $1,139 a month. Students sharing a traditional dorm room paid $723 a month and $2,200 for a meal plan.

SamInTheLoop

11-01-2006, 10:19 PM

SamInTheLoop

11-01-2006, 10:25 PM

Your right, nothing says progress like losing iconic bastions like historical department stores that have been embedded in the identity of a place for generations.http://images.skyscraperpage.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

If even more homogenous corporate chain retailing at the expense of local institutions is heralded as progress, I fear for what we will welcome in the future. And I understand Carson's was owned by a larger corporate parent, but it held of very real regional Chicago image that should have stayed on State Street. I'm crossing my fingers for an announcment to reopen the store in the future.

All the great State Street department stores have been narrowed to one, who would have imagined it would be Sears?http://images.skyscraperpage.com/images/smilies/haha.gif

Because there are just so many people that actually shopped at those "local institutions", right? Who you are really mad at are the 95% of Chicago and American consumers - they voted with their pocketbooks to put the classic department stores out of business. Now, in the case of Carson's, it's an exception, as all I have to say is - GOOD RIDDANCE! That store was an abomination - worst service on the face of the earth, period, and merchandising quality somewhere between Wal-Mart and Family Dollar, but hey, it was a vaunted and proud Chicago institution, right? Wrong – it was a backwater, a poorly-run dump, as retail operations go. (relax people, I’m not talking about the building itself – I’m a huge Sullivan fan, and this is one of my favorite pieces of architecture in the city). Please. And guess what? - there's more - since it is well-publicized that the Sears store is bleeding money like there's no tomorrow, how long before they pack up as well? I, for one, can not wait to see how Joseph Freed re-tenants the property - anything, well, almost anything, would be an improvement...

honte

11-02-2006, 12:20 AM

Who owns the parking lots on the NW and SW corners of Wabash/Van Buren? These are prime sites too. These used to be an ugly parking garage and some interesting 1-2 story buildings just a few years ago, if memory serves. Hope something big is cooking

The SW corner is owned now by DePaul University.

The two "interesting" buildings they knocked down were: A church by the cool, kitchy firm of Belli and Belli, and horrifically, the remaining 1/2 of William LeBaron Jenney's Isabella building. It was a remnant, but really worth saving - after all, Jenney was the father of the skyscraper, and this was a steel-framed beauty. The Isabella was the first highrise ever constructed to employ wind bracing. I felt the upper half could have been rebuilt, but it was nice even in its "edited" state; city hall and DePaul didn't care at all about it, and it's now in a landfill.

Jaroslaw

11-03-2006, 01:37 PM

I took these two pics in March '04, I think they represent the debacle in question...

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/Jaroslaw1/P1110323Large.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i246/Jaroslaw1/P1110324Large.jpg

Latoso

11-03-2006, 03:08 PM

Not sure where to put this, but interesting nonetheless...

http://www.suntimes.com/business/122295,CST-FIN-retail03.article
Sales lag at Macy's
Federated denies shopper anger involved in slowdown at new stores

November 3, 2006
BY SANDRA GUY Business Reporter
The grinch stole holiday buildup from Federated Department Stores' efforts to win over shoppers to Macy's in Chicago and nationwide.

Federated representatives insist that shoppers' anger at Marshall Field's and other regional stores' changeover to Macy's has nothing to do with disappointing sales reported Thursday. The weakness was concentrated in Field's and other department stores formerly owned by May Department Stores, including L.S. Ayres, Famous and Barr, Hecht's, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May and Strawbridge's.

Federated bought Marshall Field's and the other former May Department Stores for $11.9 billion in August 2005.

Those stores continue to lag in sales, according to Federated, which declines to be more specific or to disclose figures by chain.

In contrast, the original Macy's and Bloomingdale's department store chains showed strong sales results in October from a year ago, with same-store sales jumping 7.7 percent, Federated announced on Thursday. The increase was higher than analysts' forecast for a 6.1 percent gain.

Marshall Field's loyalists have made plans to protest outside Macy's flagship store at 111 N. State St. every Saturday throughout the holidays.

Macy's spokeswoman Jennifer McNamara said Thursday that customers are pleased with the improvements Federated has made to former Marshall Field's and other stores.

She noted that the National Retail Federation on Thursday named Macy's for the first time among the top 10 retailers in the nation for customer service. Macy's brick-and-mortar stores ranked No. 10.

Macy's expects more than 4 million people will view the State Street store's holiday windows theme of Mary Poppins, McNamara said.

Federated's total revenue declined 7.9 percent, to $1.86 billion for the four weeks that ended Oct. 28, because Federated closed 79 stores that were too close together and would have impeded competition after it acquired the May department stores.

Third-quarter sales grew 6 percent to $5.89 billion.

Federated CEO Terry Lundgren remained optimistic about the holidays, saying same-store sales should increase 3 percent to 5 percent in November and during the entire holiday season. But analyst Carol Levenson of Gimme Credit research firm told investors that Federated might find it more difficult than executives expect to issue new bonds in order to back up a tender offer for up to $750 million because of billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn's increased stake in the company.

Other department stores continued to see strong sales, outperforming discount stores in a reverse of a long-held trend. The stars included J.C. Penney and Nordstrom. Discounters Target and Kohl's same-store sales fell short of analysts' expectations.

Analysts believe shoppers motivated by lower gasoline prices and cold weather will boost retailers' sales by 5 percent nationwide this holiday, slightly below last year's 6.1 percent increase.

spyguy

11-03-2006, 03:16 PM

Those stores continue to lag in sales, according to Federated, which declines to be more specific or to disclose figures by chain.

I wonder how bad it really is...

VivaLFuego

11-07-2006, 09:17 PM

^ I kind of like the idea of having conventioneers exploring downtown and not just being isolated at McCormick place, so I don't really like the justification for this concept.

honte

11-08-2006, 02:38 AM

Exactly what I was thinking. They tout these things for pumping money into the local economy, but then they cannibalize it with hotel rooms and food at the center itself. Sure, the money goes into the overall economy, but hurts the chances of smaller, less connected operators from getting some of the benefit.

McPier should put its money into promoting the city as a whole, into refreshing the adjacent Motor Row Landmark District, and into better mass transit to and from the convention center. Wishful thinking!

I do see the point of doing whatever you can to attract conventions, though. Obviously not every convention attendee will be staying there or eating there either.

the urban politician

11-08-2006, 04:33 AM

“Literally, I don’t have to go downtown. I’m going to go right next door and be entertained. That’s what our goal is,” Mr. Caruso said.

^ HAVE to go downtown?

I've never seen going downtown as anything but a fun and exciting experience.

VivaLFuego

11-08-2006, 03:06 PM

^ HAVE to go downtown?

I've never seen going downtown as anything but a fun and exciting experience.

McPier is a government entity, Daley should put a stop to this nonsense.

And why isn't there any damn rapid transit from McCormick Place to the Loop and Mag Mile? Turn the busway into bonafide BRT, and/or build a Cermak Green line stop, and/or increase frequency of local trains on the Metra Electric.

the urban politician

11-09-2006, 03:02 PM

McPier is a government entity, Daley should put a stop to this nonsense.

And why isn't there any damn rapid transit from McCormick Place to the Loop and Mag Mile? Turn the busway into bonafide BRT, and/or build a Cermak Green line stop, and/or increase frequency of local trains on the Metra Electric.

^ McCormick Place is competing (in a losing battle) with Las Vegas and Orlando, and while the area around MP has a lot of potential, it's going to remain a sea of vacancy and despair for a at least a few more years.

My guess is that Daley is allowing them do what they see fit to survive against these other destinations.

X-fib

11-09-2006, 06:40 PM

When I was in Chicago earlier this year for the Pompei exhibit at Field Museum we took a ride to Navy Pier and then back south along Columbus. The southeast corner of East Wacker and Columbus(?) was vacant and looked to be a prime building location. After lurking on this forum for a while I assumed this might be the site of the Aqua or Mandrian, but maybe not... Does anyone know what is planned for this spot? Or for that matter, for the vast empty canyon of east Illinois Center??? It is a rather amazing driving past and seeing it from the lower street level!

X-fib

11-09-2006, 08:22 PM

Thanks Lukecuj. The open area I saw next to Columbus is where Aqua is going. :tup:

Taft

11-09-2006, 08:25 PM

^ McCormick Place is competing (in a losing battle) with Las Vegas and Orlando, and while the area around MP has a lot of potential, it's going to remain a sea of vacancy and despair for a at least a few more years.

My guess is that Daley is allowing them do what they see fit to survive against these other destinations.

I share this view. We've been hearing for the last few years how much convention business we are losing to places like Vegas and Orlando. And I agree that we will probably continue to shed business for a few years.

I like this idea in that its a move to replicate the Vegas experience. Now normally I would be the first to comment *against* the Vegas-ification of Chicago. Vegas is one of my least favorite cities in the world; a city of obviously manufactured grandeur completely lacking any class. But so long as this "all-in-one" mentality is kept safely in the convention centers of Chicago, I'm not sure I care.

Economically speaking, I would think that any tactic that would boost convention attendance in Chicago would be a net benefit for us. Not everyone is going to want to stay couped up in the sterile McCormick environment and Chicago has a lot to offer.

Sure, ideally the city itself would be the draw and the convention business would be supported by a patchwork of small businesses in a thriving neighborhoods surrounding the convention centers. I think we'll get there as the city core expands and the area around McCormick sees an upswing. Bur for now, moves to shore up the falling convention numbers are probably a good thing for the city. A real, vibrant city will easily compete with the Vegas-style manufactured environments any day. When the city delivers (either by bringing the city to McCormick, so to speak, or by delivering the conventioneers more easily to the city), the need for this will drop.

Taft

brian_b

11-10-2006, 10:50 PM

Thoughts on McCormick Place:

First, rapid transit from McCormick Place to the Loop is possible. There's already a Metra Electric station in McCormick Place West (?) in addition to the South Shore station in McCormick Place East. The South Shore stops there on weekends only. They probably also stop during the week during major events.

But the Metra electric could be put to better use. All they need is a smaller train that runs back and forth constantly between the Millenium Park station and McPW. Maybe stop at Van Buren too. Given the amount of trackage there, they should have zero problems with this additional service interfering with existing operations. So why don't they do it? Someone should ask the RTA!

Second, this proposed restaurant city inside the south building has the potential to be good. If they only allow non-chain Chicago-owned restaurants to open there, it will go a long way towards getting out of town guests acquainted with the uniqueness of the city. Right now any convention-goer doesn't have much of an option for eating in the immediate neighborhood except for the bland stuff already sold at McCormick Place. We do also have to understand that no convention-goer wants to spend their entire time right there, so they are going to continue to take taxis downtown and elsewhere. I don't see this as a problem.

Nowhereman1280

11-14-2006, 10:44 PM

I was just thinking how sweet it would be if someone were to build a mall on top (or near the top) of a building. For example, how many people would go to a mall that would take up two or three stories on like the 60th or 70th story of the Sears? I would shop there whenever possible!

Has this concept ever been tried? Does anyone know of any examples of this?

It sounds like it would be a sweet marketing techneque because tons of people would go up there just for a free view and end up getting tourist trapped by the stores.

Sorry about the random thought!

brian_b

11-14-2006, 10:49 PM

It would be very difficult for the elevator system to handle the customer load.

SamInTheLoop

11-15-2006, 12:11 AM

^ That would be a very unsuccessful mall. Apart from the logistical impracticality, retail today is all about convenience. Look at it this way - most vertical malls in the country have not worked very well (there are of course some notable exceptions, a couple of them being in Chicago). The reason? - it is often very difficult to fill retail space above the 2nd or 3rd floor at economic rents (largely because customer traffic suffers due to the inconvenience (or at least perceived inconvenicence) of the location high above street level. Notwithstanding what you say about such a landmark location and the draw-dropping views being the draw, imagine how difficult it would be to lease retail space on the 100th floor of a building when most mall owners struggle to lease up the 4th!

VivaLFuego

11-15-2006, 02:02 AM

Nowhereman1280

11-15-2006, 02:27 AM

Well I suppose that the elevator load would be the biggest problem. If you had even a free observation deck, it would probably suffer from huge traffic loads. I would like to see a mall (or some retail floor) above the average roof height in the city though, just to see if it would succeed.

They should build a series of big buildings on four differnt corners or something and have the buidlings lean inward across the streets to merge and form some sort of large continuous floorspace for a large retail base, how sweet would that be? However, with a building that large, the NIMBYs would flip out, which would be the fun of it of course!

I'm sure the idea of a skymall is infesable, but I like to think about things that are outside the box like this.

I guess I am just for more public spaces above floor level, like clubs and resturants and, if it could happen a skymall. I think the tops of tall buildings are wasted when they are just a bunch of offices!

honte

11-15-2006, 06:49 AM

I guess I am just for more public spaces above floor level, like clubs and resturants and, if it could happen a skymall. I think the tops of tall buildings are wasted when they are just a bunch of offices!

I couldn't agree more. Much of the glory of our built environment is never experienced by the public.

I am very interested in Koolhaas's project for Louisville for this exact reason. In fact, it's probably the only of his projects that I find more than simply interesting.

Mr Downtown

11-18-2006, 06:17 AM

Maybe I can add a little information on the big South Loop parcels:

Riverside Park 62 acres bounded by Clark, the river, Roosevelt, and 16th. Access is the big problem. Everyone, including the developer, wanted to find a way to extend the street grid into the site, but couldn’t figure out how to do it because of Metra. The approved PD includes a riverwalk, a new Wells-Wentworth (80-foot ROW) arterial through the site, and a V-shaped drive lined with a town center (topped with residential) at Roosevelt level, atop a three-level parking deck. Except for the townhouses at the south end, it pretty much has to be built in one chunk. When Tony Rezko got into the papers, the city backed away from the TIF financing. General Mediterranean took an ownership position, and DeBartolo announced they would take on the retail part (by now called the Riverside Connection), then they backed out. The property is being shopped around, but some of it may be encumbered by involvement with Rezko’s deals.

LaSalle Park Clark to Wells, Polk to Roosevelt—excluding the Lennar parcel SWC Clark/Polk and a couple of parcels SEC Wells/Polk. LaSalle Park was the name used when PD 523 was approved in 1991, anticipating office buildings along Clark and residential along Wells. Almost nothing is being developed as prescribed by the PD, but it’s all been handled by administrative amendments rather than a true replanning. First the Target, then The Curve, AMLI’s 900 S Clark, and now the Roosevelt Connection have been carved out of this PD. Southgate Market (west of the river) and stuff north of Polk are not part of LaSalle Park.

Roosevelt Connection Metra tracks to Wells, Roosevelt to 9th. The basics of this project are well known. The main parking and delivery entrances are from Wells, which gets treated rather badly, with blank parking garage walls. Developer says they can do no better because they don't know what Cacciatore will do across the street. Steps at the north end cascade down into a new park (2.8 acres as I recall).

Cacciatore property Wells to the river, south of River City to Roosevelt. No plans have been sighted. A 30-foot riverwalk will almost certainly be, ahem, offered.

Franklin Point Wells to the river, north of River City to Harrison. Site of the old Grand Central Station, there’s been no shortage of ambitious plans over the last two decades. I’ve heard that D2 has optioned or purchased a small part near Polk. Frankel & Giles is trying to market the part near Harrison; maybe all of it.

Here's a map showing the various parcels:
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/4180/southloopparcelsij5.gif (http://imageshack.us)

Wheelingman04

11-18-2006, 06:33 AM

^ Nice overview and map, Mr Downtown.:)

honte

11-18-2006, 07:01 AM

Thanks a lot, Mr. Downtown. I wish I could say that it looks promising...

The main parking and delivery entrances are from Wells, which gets treated rather badly, with blank parking garage walls. Developer says they can do no better because they don't know what Cacciatore will do across the street.

This is the kind of crap that makes me really mad. It is unacceptable, garbage planning that one might expect from Omaha or Des Moines or some smaller city with little or no experience handling major developments. NOT Chicago. As I said a few pages back, this area is screaming out for a modern and exciting, comprehensive master plan. We are not going to have it.

It's rather sad to look back, but Goldberg's River City master plan was by far the most visionary and progressive thing ever proposed for this area. I wish all the parties could simply commit to building it and call it a day.

VivaLFuego

11-18-2006, 08:50 AM

^Thanks for the updates Mr Downtown, and welcome to the forum. Did you make that map? Your avatar looks like the logo for Chicago Cartographics....
Sounds like Wells street will basically be a service drive rather than an actual continuation of the street grid.

jpIllInoIs

11-18-2006, 01:58 PM

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/newhomes/chi-0611180015nov18,1,140323.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

This could be interesting......

By Richard Wronski
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 18, 2006

Acres of parking lots at suburban Metra train stations ought to be used for convenient housing for commuters rather than merely for their cars, according to a study issued Tuesday by a public interest group.

More than 1,100 new residential units and 167,000 square feet of commercial space in mixed developments could be built in nine Cook County suburbs, without a loss of commuter parking spaces, the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology said.

Development also could provide several hundred thousand dollars in tax revenue for each of the nine communities--more than $4 million total--above the parking revenue generated by the lots, the study said.

The new housing could help meet growing demand for more transit-oriented housing in the Chicago area, said the non-profit organization, which has advocated such development since 1993.

By 2030 the demand for housing near transit in the Chicago region will be 1.6 million households, more than double the 2000 number of 787,000, the study said.

"In their current state, these parking lots are robbing our region of economic value because there is a higher and better use for the land," said Jacky Grimshaw, the group's vice president for policy.

The study was funded with the support of the Joyce, Alphawood and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundations.

Metra officials and leaders of suburbs cited in the study acknowledged the need for transit-oriented development, but said this goal must be balanced against the demands of commuters, who want to park as close as possible to their train stations.

"It's kind of a double-edged sword," said Judy Pardonnet, a Metra spokeswoman.

The new Metra station in Elburn is an example of transit-oriented development, Pardonnet said. Elburn officials have planned offices, stores and apartments around the station and single-family homes in a neighboring subdivision.

Suburban leaders, particularly in more established communities such as Oak Park and La Grange, cite severe shortages of commuter and residential parking.

But the center said existing parking lots could be used more efficiently by building new parking decks into the developments.

Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder, who is also a Metra board member, said the village has won several awards for its downtown transit-oriented developments. But residents' concerns must also be taken into consideration, she said.

The center's study recommended turning a 1.5-acre Metra lot in Arlington Heights into a mixed-use development with a parking structure and commercial space, topped off with 72 residential units.

Arlington Heights, local schools and its Park District could get $640,000 a year in additional property tax revenue, the study concluded.

"As such, Metra riders who drive to the station cost the town and its taxpayers, but the real costs include the lost opportunity costs of not utilizing the land devoted to parking for a higher use," the study said.

Mulder said the village might favor such a development, but residents are opposed to any multistory project on the site, which is in a historic district.

Mulder said she appreciated the center's recommendation, "but residents have to have their input, too."

In La Grange, the study urged turning three lots totaling 1.5 acres into mixed-use developments.

In Tinley Park, the study identified 19 acres within a quarter-mile of the 80th Avenue Metra station designated for commuter parking.

The study proposes using more than 1,700 parking spaces for a major development of town homes, multifamily buildings and commercial property.

The study also recommended more transit-oriented development in Palatine, Hanover Park, Oak Park, Franklin Park, Homewood and Blue Island.

E-mail this story
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

Mr Downtown

11-18-2006, 03:35 PM

Did you make that map? Your avatar looks like the logo for Chicago CartoGraphics....
Yes, the map is my work. As for the avatar, you have good eye.

Sounds like Wells street will basically be a service drive rather than an actual continuation of the street grid.
I'm just relieved to have it in the plans at all. For years, planning staff would dismiss it as unnecessary, and almost let the ROW go in the planning for Ping Tom Park expansion. I had to yell and scream to get more than a 66-foot ROW in the Riverside Park PD.

I think it will end up more like Clark than a service drive, with infrequent access points and moderately high speed and traffic volumes. The Riverside Park plan did some nice things to civilize it, with buildings fronting onto it.

Occasionally I imagine it as "Riverside Drive," but I'm torn about whether it should only have parkland/riverwalk between the road and the river. I now think the approach taken in the Riverside Park plan is better: residential buildings fronting the road but a riverwalk to the west.

I don't know what would be much better for the Roosevelt Collection, unless it was liner townhouses fronting Wells. I just don't know that streetfront retail down at that level would ever be realistic.

jcchii

11-18-2006, 03:49 PM

that whole area is a disaster IMO

the urban politician

11-18-2006, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown
The main parking and delivery entrances are from Wells, which gets treated rather badly, with blank parking garage walls. Developer says they can do no better because they don't know what Cacciatore will do across the street.

This is the kind of crap that makes me really mad. It is unacceptable, garbage planning that one might expect from Omaha or Des Moines or some smaller city with little or no experience handling major developments. NOT Chicago. As I said a few pages back, this area is screaming out for a modern and exciting, comprehensive master plan. We are not going to have it.

^ Uhh, that's the kind of planning you'll get in Manhattan as well. Walking around Midtown, you'll see plenty of streets treated as garage/delivery access alleys for the major avenues. Nothing new there, and it's definitely not just a Des Moines thing.

Anyway, with an elevated Roosevelt, a walled-off Dearborn Park, and a river, this chunk of land is obviously very challenging to develop. THe more and more I learn about it, the more I realize that extending the streetgrid into this area is scarcely possible, if at all. That said, from the looks of Roosevelt Collection I am not encouraged; it's one thing to have limitations on layout, but I see no reason why the architecture itself has to be so crappy.

HK Chicago

11-18-2006, 05:50 PM

^ That's a necessity in Manhattan, not an arbitrary planning decision.

honte

11-18-2006, 06:07 PM

^ That's a necessity in Manhattan, not an arbitrary planning decision.

Yeah, that's really what I was getting at. I actually like seeing trucks in the streets and the chaotic activity they bring.

This, "Well, I don't know what's happening over there, so we're going to basically ignore it," or rather, "That's our competition's land, so we're not going to make any improvements" is what is so damn annoying. This is case-in-point for a master plan and some governmental oversight.

Yes, it's complex. But complexity can be the impetus for the best architecture when triumphed. This area calls for something really creative and really bold (Hello, Olympic Stadium?).

Sir Isaac Newton

11-18-2006, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown
The main parking and delivery entrances are from Wells, which gets treated rather badly, with blank parking garage walls. Developer says they can do no better because they don't know what Cacciatore will do across the street.

^ Uhh, that's the kind of planning you'll get in Manhattan as well. Walking around Midtown, you'll see plenty of streets treated as garage/delivery access alleys for the major avenues. Nothing new there, and it's definitely not just a Des Moines thing.

Anyway, with an elevated Roosevelt, a walled-off Dearborn Park, and a river, this chunk of land is obviously very challenging to develop. THe more and more I learn about it, the more I realize that extending the streetgrid into this area is scarcely possible, if at all. That said, from the looks of Roosevelt Collection I am not encouraged; it's one thing to have limitations on layout, but I see no reason why the architecture itself has to be so crappy.

What's so crappy about the architecture? Sure, the architecture in Roosevelt Collection may be no masterpiece, but I fail to see what's so bad about it either. Overall, I think that the Roosevelt Collection as well as the rest of the developments in Lasalle park will be a very welcome addition to the neighborhood.

Sir Isaac Newton

11-18-2006, 07:02 PM

[QUOTE=Mr Downtown]Maybe I can add a little information on the big South Loop parcels:

Great map/descriptions! Do you know if there are any plans for the plot of land bounded by 9th street and Polk, and Wells and the Metra tracks?

the urban politician

11-18-2006, 07:46 PM

What's so crappy about the architecture? Sure, the architecture in Roosevelt Collection may be no masterpiece, but I fail to see what's so bad about it either. Overall, I think that the Roosevelt Collection as well as the rest of the developments in Lasalle park will be a very welcome addition to the neighborhood.

^ It's totally monotonous. Glass, then brick, then glass, then brick, and so on. No variability at all, not to mention that both sides of the development are essentially reflections of the other. There is nothing of any visual interest--as others have said, this development looks completely like a suburban lifestyle center in Naperville. :yuck:

Mr Downtown

11-18-2006, 08:06 PM

any plans for the plot of land bounded by 9th street and Polk, and Wells and the Metra tracks?

That's supposed to be a future phase of Centrum's development, a highrise of yet-undetermined design. As you see from the map, they want to do this weird thing moving Financial Place over to the alley behind 801 S Wells because of some hassle with a utility easement. So I hope that area gets rethought before any construction actually happens.

The building footprint I show is from preliminary plans circulated by the developer. The actual PD amendment doesn't actually contain a site plan, I'm told, though no one at DPD could actually find the amendment when I was there Thursday.

I think the parking lot south of 801 is a different owner (might be Cacciatore).

Sir Isaac Newton

11-18-2006, 09:57 PM

^ It's totally monotonous. Glass, then brick, then glass, then brick, and so on. No variability at all, not to mention that both sides of the development are essentially reflections of the other. There is nothing of any visual interest--as others have said, this development looks completely like a suburban lifestyle center in Naperville. :yuck:

Sometimes symmetry works better than just a haphazard mishmash of buildings. I'm also not sure what is wrong with something that is all glass, or all brick. Is the Trump Tower, and numerous other buildings that are all glass "totally monotonous" as well? I'm not claiming that RC is an architectural masterpiece; but at the same time, the buildings seem relatively nice and there are many buildings in Chicago that are far worse/uglier.

Also, all the comparisons of RC to Naperville are absolutely absurd and need to stop. RC will be a great addition to the community - it will bring a lot of things to the South Loop that the South Loop is currently missing....a 16-screen theater while at the moment, the South Loop as NO theatres....a bowling alley, which the South Loop currently lacks....another health club, which the South Loop doesn't have many of yet....a park that will have lots of concerts, fairs, and farmers markets, giving the neighborhood much more vibrancy....TONS of restaurants and retail - something that the South Loop is greatly lacking right now. What's Naperville-ish about this? Is everyone trying to say that only suburbanites like to go out to the movies? That only suburbanites work out at gyms and like to bowl? I realize that some of you may have been really attached to the status quo of that area, which is the oh-so-cosmopolitan parking lots and fields of weeds....but I guess I am one of the few that thinks that the RC is a big step foward over the parking lots and fields of weeds that currently occupy that area. Crazy, I know.

the urban politician

11-18-2006, 10:16 PM

Sir Isaac Newton

11-18-2006, 10:33 PM

^ It's obviously an improvement, but they could have done a lot better job architecturally without having to spend more money. Variety doesn't have to be expensive. If you look at the original plans for Riverside Park (when Ikea was part of the picture), that is an example of a well-designed development with a lot of variety and potential--too bad it never happened.

But there is some variety....some buildings are glass, some are brick. Also, the brick buildings vary in color and the glass buildings look like they vary in color as well.

Marcu

11-18-2006, 11:09 PM

nomarandlee

11-19-2006, 12:59 AM

The biggest problam with the RC can be easily summed up in that it looks like when you go there it will feel like a CONCEPT from one end to the other. The more you are going to make look something look like a concept the more the bar is raised in making sure the details of the concept is held to a high standard. It looks like if you pulled out any of these portions of the RC it would be kinda "meh", when you put a bunch of "mehs" together in concept form like RC it can quickly go bad.

honte

11-19-2006, 01:10 AM

^ Well, that is a good way to put it. I agree, it feels somewhat contrived, like an "instant town centre," and that may be why it's drawing the Naperville comments (although of course Naperville has quite a nice older downtown).

Architecturally, my main complaint is not with the low-rises, however dull they appear, but with that Loewenbergish tower! It looks decent from East-West, and then from North-South there is all that painted concrete...

left of center

11-19-2006, 03:10 AM

Sometimes symmetry works better than just a haphazard mishmash of buildings. I'm also not sure what is wrong with something that is all glass, or all brick. Is the Trump Tower, and numerous other buildings that are all glass "totally monotonous" as well? I'm not claiming that RC is an architectural masterpiece; but at the same time, the buildings seem relatively nice and there are many buildings in Chicago that are far worse/uglier.

Also, all the comparisons of RC to Naperville are absolutely absurd and need to stop. RC will be a great addition to the community - it will bring a lot of things to the South Loop that the South Loop is currently missing....a 16-screen theater while at the moment, the South Loop as NO theatres....a bowling alley, which the South Loop currently lacks....another health club, which the South Loop doesn't have many of yet....a park that will have lots of concerts, fairs, and farmers markets, giving the neighborhood much more vibrancy....TONS of restaurants and retail - something that the South Loop is greatly lacking right now. What's Naperville-ish about this? Is everyone trying to say that only suburbanites like to go out to the movies? That only suburbanites work out at gyms and like to bowl? I realize that some of you may have been really attached to the status quo of that area, which is the oh-so-cosmopolitan parking lots and fields of weeds....but I guess I am one of the few that thinks that the RC is a big step foward over the parking lots and fields of weeds that currently occupy that area. Crazy, I know.

No one disagrees that the South Loop needs movie theatres, retail, bowling alleys... etc. But the design of it is terrible. It promotes car use, does not focus retail on major corridors, rather hides it inside a dead end, allowing only one traffic choking enterance and exit. This in of itself is a suburban mentality.

Your claims of suburbanites being the only ones going to movies or bowling is pretty ludacris. As for the "cosmopolitain fields of weeds" as you call them, yes, i think i would rather hold on to them for a little while longer for a better idea to come around. People dont marry the first person they meet. Chicago deserves better.

Sir Isaac Newton

11-19-2006, 03:43 AM

No one disagrees that the South Loop needs movie theatres, retail, bowling alleys... etc. But the design of it is terrible. It promotes car use, does not focus retail on major corridors, rather hides it inside a dead end, allowing only one traffic choking enterance and exit. This in of itself is a suburban mentality.

Your claims of suburbanites being the only ones going to movies or bowling is pretty ludacris. As for the "cosmopolitain fields of weeds" as you call them, yes, i think i would rather hold on to them for a little while longer for a better idea to come around. People dont marry the first person they meet. Chicago deserves better.

a) So you're saying that only people in suburbs drive cars? You're right, I've never seen anyone in a car in NYC, LA, Hong Kong, etc. Many people will walk or take the el when going to the RC. But it is going to be more ideal for some people to drive there. Just like it is more ideal for some people to drive to a Bears game, just like it is more ideal for some people to drive to any sports event/concert/cultural event in any major city in the country. I guess by your logic professional sports teams, big concerts, cultural events, etc. are all part of the suburban mentality too, as some people actually drive their cars to these events. What are these country hicks driving their cars to these events thinking? How unsophisticated can they get?

b) There is more than one entrance/exit in RC, so get your facts straight before you spew off more "ludacris" nonsense.

c) What "major corridors" are even in existence, on the RC property? Are you suggesting that instead of building the RC, we should try to convince businesses to set up shop underneath the Metra tracks? Perhaps you should learn a little bit about the actual location of RC, before you assert that there are much better ways to develop the land that RC will be on.

left of center

11-19-2006, 04:27 AM

a) So you're saying that only people in suburbs drive cars? You're right, I've never seen anyone in a car in NYC, LA, Hong Kong, etc. Many people will walk or take the el when going to the RC. But it is going to be more ideal for some people to drive there. Just like it is more ideal for some people to drive to a Bears game, just like it is more ideal for some people to drive to any sports event/concert/cultural event in any major city in the country. I guess by your logic professional sports teams, big concerts, cultural events, etc. are all part of the suburban mentality too, as some people actually drive their cars to these events. What are these country hicks driving their cars to these events thinking? How unsophisticated can they get?

b) There is more than one entrance/exit in RC, so get your facts straight before you spew off more "ludacris" nonsense.

c) What "major corridors" are even in existence, on the RC property? Are you suggesting that instead of building the RC, we should try to convince businesses to set up shop underneath the Metra tracks? Perhaps you should learn a little bit about the actual location of RC, before you assert that there are much better ways to develop the land that RC will be on.

A) I never said only suburbanites drive cars. I never stated my opinion on Bears games, concerts, cultural events, etc. I never called car drivers country hicks. I never made direct connections between not driving and sophistication. With that said, have you observed how successful retail districts work in this city? Good examples would be State St, Michigan Ave, and Lincoln, Clark, Broadway, etc. on the North Side. Key word here is pedestrian presence. Ofcourse some people will choose to drive. The point is the developer should encourage walking. The RC in its current state doesn't really do that.

B) There is only one entrance/exit for vehicle traffic, which is the issue i was alluding to.

C) Uhm.... Roosevelt Rd? I know plenty of the geography of that location, and i think an extension of the street grid would have been a better idea (extending LaSalle and Financial down to Roosevelt, and 9th or 11th west into the property) or atleast a system of roadways that would better connect the retail area with the rest of the neighborhood, since the Metra ROW would be an issue. Ironically, there are plans for retail underneath Metra tracks in the Loop, funny you should mention that.

The fact that you twist my words with such conviction is really interesting. Im merely posting my thoughts here, and you somehow takes offense to what i say, or act as if im personally attacking you. You gotta chill out, guy.

a chicago bearcat

11-19-2006, 06:35 AM

I'd like to say that I don't find Roosevelt collection completely ridiculous

I'd just like to see how the wells facade is going to be treated, and how they are going to get pedestrians from the surrounding neighborhood utilizing the town center they've created

I understand it would be expected for pedestrians to traverse the park, and walk up the steps shown in the rendering to access the town center, but if a retail area is that detatched from the rest of the neighborhood it could end up as a purely motor vehicle destination even for those within a 10 minute walk

Such a large portion of this project is parking, and it seems this podium development could feel completely disconnected from the neighborhood if it treats its edges as borders instead of transitions. Working street retail, as in this project needs a real street in order to thrive, I just don't see it.

Sir Isaac Newton

11-19-2006, 09:27 AM

A) I never said only suburbanites drive cars. I never stated my opinion on Bears games, concerts, cultural events, etc. I never called car drivers country hicks. I never made direct connections between not driving and sophistication. With that said, have you observed how successful retail districts work in this city? Good examples would be State St, Michigan Ave, and Lincoln, Clark, Broadway, etc. on the North Side. Key word here is pedestrian presence. Ofcourse some people will choose to drive. The point is the developer should encourage walking. The RC in its current state doesn't really do that.

B) There is only one entrance/exit for vehicle traffic, which is the issue i was alluding to.

C) Uhm.... Roosevelt Rd? I know plenty of the geography of that location, and i think an extension of the street grid would have been a better idea (extending LaSalle and Financial down to Roosevelt, and 9th or 11th west into the property) or atleast a system of roadways that would better connect the retail area with the rest of the neighborhood, since the Metra ROW would be an issue. Ironically, there are plans for retail underneath Metra tracks in the Loop, funny you should mention that.

The fact that you twist my words with such conviction is really interesting. Im merely posting my thoughts here, and you somehow takes offense to what i say, or act as if im personally attacking you. You gotta chill out, guy.

To your responses:

A) What exactly is the developer of RC doing to discourage walking? Those who live within walking distance to RC will walk there, no matter what. Those who don't live within walking distance will not walk there, no matter what. It's a pretty simple concept. I'm not sure what the developer could possibly even do to make a big impact on the number of people walking to RC vs. not walking there. I assume you think that because RC has it's own underground parking, walking to RC is somehow being discouraged. As if people who lived in Lakeview or Hyde Park would plan on walking to RC, but once they realize that RC has parking, will drive there instead.

B) There will be an entrance/exit on Roosevelt and an entrance/exit on Wells. I may not be a math prodigy, but I believe that adds up to more than one.

C) Already on all sections of Roosevelt nearby RC, there is tons of retail in existence or sprouting up. However, the section of Roosevelt at RC is a bridge. So I'm not sure what kind of retail you had in mind for Roosevelt in that area. A couple hot dog venders repelling over the Roosevelt Street bridge? The parking garage in RC that you and others on here rip on is in fact creating the ability to connect Roosevelt with the whole plot of land that RC is on, in the first place. And as for the retail underneath the Metra tracks that you refer to, it will be in a preexisting building where the entrance to the Metra is contained in. The Metra track between Polk and Roosevelt is supported by a concrete wall that is maybe 7 or 8 feet high....don't think anyone will be squeezing shops underneath it.

And just to let you know, I take no offense to what I say. I just like messing with people on this site who get all snobbish about their architecture, or get all snobbish in general....especially since it is usually well deserved.

Just curious, what would be your master plan for the RC parcel of land?

detroitismylove

11-19-2006, 01:31 PM

It was great! Free booze and they had a dj and go-go dancers. What more could one want.:banana:

Awesome. I recieved an invitation in the mail last week but was unable to travel to Chicago this week. Im glad you had a great time! Looks like an amazing project for the South Loop.

honte

11-19-2006, 02:55 PM

Man, this place got pretty nasty all of the sudden. Who would have thought this small development would generate such heated arguments? Maybe we do need that Roosevelt Megaprojects thread?

alex1

11-19-2006, 04:28 PM

without having to get ugly, I just wanted to support my belief that if you build lots of parking (if it's FREE), you are in turn supporting increased vehicular dependence.

People want convenience, and FREE parking in bunches undoubtably gives them that. This is one reason why I'm against the parking garage proposed for Wrigley Field. It's not good long term urban policy to dedicate so much space to the car.

the urban politician

11-19-2006, 04:28 PM

the urban politician

11-19-2006, 04:37 PM

Man, this place got pretty nasty all of the sudden. Who would have thought this small development would generate such heated arguments? Maybe we do need that Roosevelt Megaprojects thread?

^ Well, I think it's worthwile to discuss RC because it's a pretty major development that sets the tone for that part of the city. A lot of people have strong opinions about it because many people believe that the Dept of Planning and Devt went to sleep on this one. I happen to agree

spyguy

11-19-2006, 04:41 PM

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2027/rcsplantu8.jpg

the urban politician

11-19-2006, 04:48 PM

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2027/rcsplantu8.jpg

^ So the only pedestrian access points are Roosevelt and a long staircase at 9th? Boy, I can't wait for those choking traffic bottlenecks to arrive, reminding everyone about the consequences of bad planning

honte

11-19-2006, 05:47 PM

Speaking of choking bottlenecks and poor planning, does anyone else see imminent disaster with that tiny, one-lane road they put in at Lakeshore East? There is barely enough room to pass a parked car, and now they are starting to add retail in bizarre places, such as that bank on the lower level of the Shoreham.

Sir Isaac Newton

11-19-2006, 06:28 PM

^ That's the second person whose words you put in their mouth. Please stop arguing in this fashion. BTW, I agree that RC does not detract from pedestrians just because it has parking. But this is what gets me, from 9th street all the way to 12th street, if you want to get into this development from Clark St as a pedestrian, how will you do it? Is there even 1 pedestrian entrance to this on its east side between those 2 roads? If not, then that's pretty damn sad, and shows us whom this development caters to (drivers!).

^ It's spelled 'ludicrous'. Also, Wells is just a garage entrance, right? So when it comes to through street traffic, RC has only one entrance and exit.

There are Metra tracks blocking entrance to this parcel of land, between Polk and Roosevelt. It has NOTHING to do with RC: no matter how the land is developed, people trying to get into this area on the east side will either have to enter at Polk or Roosevelt.

As for the ludicrous comment, I was poking fun of Left of Center's misspelling of the word, hence the quotation marks. I apologize if that went over your head.

I am in NO way trying to compare this development to Michigan or 5th avenue. All I am saying is for what the developer was given, he/she did a pretty good job. So many of you on here are going on and on about the area should be developed to have an open space with rows of restaurants, shops, and bars along all the streets....ala Manhattan or some parts of Chicago on the North Side. What all of you are either forgetting (or not even realizing) is that directly to the east, RC is bounded by Metra tracks....directly to the south, RC is bounded by the Roosevelt street bridge - which is greatly elevated over RC's parcel of land....directly to the west is Wells street, which currently is a dirt road heading south of Polk, and then ends even before it makes it to Roosevelt. Even once Wells is built up more, RC will still essentially be bounded/blocked off by the River on it's west side, as the river is just a half a block west of Wells. The most "pedestrian friendly" entrance/boundry of RC is Polk Street, which just happens to dead end at Wells due to the river.

I am huge fan myself of open space corridors full of shops, restaurants, bars, etc. I think that the South Loop will still get a lot of that - particularly at State, Wabash, and Michigan. But it ain't happening here. RC is bounded by train tracks mounted on a concrete wall, a bridge, a river, and a dead-end road on all 4 sides. I've seen many pieces of land in cities in the past along the lines of RC's parcel of land (including in NYC, which so many of you in here seem to strive for Chicago to become more like) and almost in all cases, the land was complete unused/abandoned. The developer should be lauded for still being able to put this land to pretty good use. The South Loop is the largest growing area of Chicago and it doesn't even have a movie theater or bowling alley, and is severely lacking in restaurants, shops, and health clubs. RC will deliver on the area's immediate needs for these things, and can almost serve as an anchor retail area in which smaller, streetside shops/restaurants/businesses will spout off from.

To everyone who is ripping on RC, I really have to ask: what would be your master plan for the area if you were the developer? I'm really not sure that anyone could come up with something that much better, given RC's geographical constraints.

The one thing that I will agree with most people on is that it probably would be to not allow free parking in the RC lots, as it might inspire a few lazy people to drive to RC, who could have otherwise walked. But I'm not even 100% sure if RC has even communicated yet if the parking will be free or not? If they are planning on offering free parking, that would be something that they should reconsider, as paid parking would result in only the people who need to drive actually doing so, and cutting down on veichle traffic.

honte

11-19-2006, 06:57 PM

To everyone who is ripping on RC, I really have to ask: what would be your master plan for the area if you were the developer? I'm really not sure that anyone could come up with something that much better, given RC's geographical constraints.

This is the best point you've made so far. From the developer's perspective, there might not be too much more you can do (planning-wise - the architecture still sucks and it's a different story). But that's why I've been complaining all along that the city has failed us from a planning perspective. Much more could be done if all the parties were involved.

As for the Metra tracks on the side of the property, there must be a solution. In my opinion, it would be worth the taxpayer expense to rework this track, or Clark Street.

Could Clark be raised from Polk southward in a way that is respectful of Dearborn Park? (That would really wall them off - just what they want!) Could the tracks be sunken or rerouted? (Sure, it's expensive, but a better use than Daley's stupid idea of rerouting the spur near 16th, which isn't a problem unless you're a yuppie who bought a condo right next to it without thinking that there was a train track outside your window.) To reintegrate all this land with the city, I think it easily would be worth it.

But these are the kinds of things that the city must take on, not the developers, unless they are real visionaries.

Sir Isaac Newton

11-19-2006, 07:15 PM

I think that one thing that almost all of us on this board can agree on is that it is pretty funny/ironic that the handful of malcontents from Folio Square, who protested nonstop against Burnham Pointe, are not protesting against RC. One of their main supposed gripes against Burnham Pointe was the traffic that it would create. I think it's safe to say that there are going to be at least a few more cars entering and exiting from RC. Another big gripe of there's was that Burnham Pointe was out of scale compared to the rest of the neighborhood. The high-rise in the 2nd phase of RC is a good 10 stories higher than Burnham Pointe (although I guess it isn't directly blocking their view!)

a chicago bearcat

11-19-2006, 08:01 PM

Sir Isaac Newton

11-19-2006, 08:14 PM

^ burnham pointe and Roosevelt collection are separated by a bit of distance

and I think the prospect of more retail in the area subdues complaints

although I'd still protest the dullness of the RC tower, it seems out of place
as if it should've been built 7 years ago in river north, and I still want to see how wells is being addressed

They are roughly 100 yards apart. When you bring up Wells, are you referring to how RC will incorporate Wells into the development or how the city will renovate/develop Wells? I believe the city is planning on paving Wells all the way down to Roosevelt in the next year or two, with plans to possibly develop it further south, later on....

Latoso

11-19-2006, 08:25 PM

http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/2027/rcsplantu8.jpg

From what I could see from the model, there are going to be about 3 separate retail entrances from wells street, so it won't be as devoid of life as many believe.

SamInTheLoop

11-19-2006, 09:23 PM

the urban politician

11-19-2006, 09:58 PM

From what I could see from the model, there are going to be about 3 separate retail entrances from wells street, so it won't be as devoid of life as many believe.

^ That's good news, so that means there will be at least an additional pedestrian entrance.

So will there be elevators from the retail podium down to Wells St? There are so many unanswered questions. For example, I thought this development was going to be bordered by 9th street to the north, with 9th street connecting Wells to Clark. Did anybody take pics of the models at the sales center?

left of center

11-19-2006, 11:06 PM

To your responses:

A) What exactly is the developer of RC doing to discourage walking? Those who live within walking distance to RC will walk there, no matter what. Those who don't live within walking distance will not walk there, no matter what. It's a pretty simple concept. I'm not sure what the developer could possibly even do to make a big impact on the number of people walking to RC vs. not walking there. I assume you think that because RC has it's own underground parking, walking to RC is somehow being discouraged. As if people who lived in Lakeview or Hyde Park would plan on walking to RC, but once they realize that RC has parking, will drive there instead.

B) There will be an entrance/exit on Roosevelt and an entrance/exit on Wells. I may not be a math prodigy, but I believe that adds up to more than one.

C) Already on all sections of Roosevelt nearby RC, there is tons of retail in existence or sprouting up. However, the section of Roosevelt at RC is a bridge. So I'm not sure what kind of retail you had in mind for Roosevelt in that area. A couple hot dog venders repelling over the Roosevelt Street bridge? The parking garage in RC that you and others on here rip on is in fact creating the ability to connect Roosevelt with the whole plot of land that RC is on, in the first place. And as for the retail underneath the Metra tracks that you refer to, it will be in a preexisting building where the entrance to the Metra is contained in. The Metra track between Polk and Roosevelt is supported by a concrete wall that is maybe 7 or 8 feet high....don't think anyone will be squeezing shops underneath it.

And just to let you know, I take no offense to what I say. I just like messing with people on this site who get all snobbish about their architecture, or get all snobbish in general....especially since it is usually well deserved.

Just curious, what would be your master plan for the RC parcel of land?

A) People from Lakeview and Hyde Park probably wouldnt walk to RC, considering the distance. They would shop in thier own local retail districts. I dont blame the existance of the parking garage as a detriment to walking, just the project's connectivity to the neighborhood. i understand the RC's geographic limitations, but i think a cul-de-sac retail strip isnt really the best idea out there for this plot. Its too inward focused. If you want to see a similar example of bad planning with an inward focused development, look a few blocks east at Dearborn Park.

B) Last i checked, RC is a dead end which by definition has one exit. I guess you can throw away your dreams of being an English language prodigy, too ;)

C) The Target does an excellent job of fronting Roosevelt with no car access from Roosevelt. Im not ripping on the existance of a car garage, and if you look at my past posts, i never have. I merely criticized the layout of the project, not its intent or its purpose. I really think you have been misinterpreting my point, here.

I'm not getting snobby at all here, if that is what you think i am. I merely want this city to grow in the best way possible. If developments go without criticism, then crap architecture will result. We are on the same team here, no need to lash out.

My master plan for RC? I would just boost its connectivity with the neighborhood, and have it be less "inward". Seeing as how Roosevelt is elevated, which we all understand to be problematic with developing this parcel of land, i wouldnt make a road connection to Roosevelt at all. Roosevelt Rd jams up during rush hour and even during non rush hour times during the day anyway, it doesnt need another choke point. I would have storefronts on Roosevelt, as well as storefronts on Wells St. More retail would go onto 11th street, which would be extended to Wells from Clark (assuming that an on-grade crossing or below-grade crossing could be created with the Metra tracks). Even if crossing the very busy Metra ROW is not feasible, then an extension of Financial Pl south into the project would be a good idea, with Taylor extended east to Clark, which i believe would be possible since at that point, the Metra tracks are elevated above grade. I believe there is also a plan to build a Taylor Street bridge over the river as well, which would further bolster the connectivity of the grid in the area. A pedestrian walkway/stairway would connect Roosevelt Rd. with Financial Pl. I would also consider connecting Wells St. with Roosevelt Rd, if it were possible. My perception of the possibility of my idea actually being viable could be all wrong, seeing as how i am not a civil engineer, but something similar to this would definatly be an improvement over the current design.

Regardless, we dont agree on this project. Going back and forth isnt really going to solve that. I guess we can just agree to disagree, in order to keep this thread from devolving into a name calling match.

the urban politician

11-20-2006, 12:44 AM

My master plan for RC? I would just boost its connectivity with the neighborhood, and have it be less "inward". Seeing as how Roosevelt is elevated, which we all understand to be problematic with developing this parcel of land, i wouldnt make a road connection to Roosevelt at all. Roosevelt Rd jams up during rush hour and even during non rush hour times during the day anyway, it doesnt need another choke point. I would have storefronts on Roosevelt, as well as storefronts on Wells St. More retail would go onto 11th street, which would be extended to Wells from Clark (assuming that an on-grade crossing or below-grade crossing could be created with the Metra tracks). Even if crossing the very busy Metra ROW is not feasible, then an extension of Financial Pl south into the project would be a good idea, with Taylor extended east to Clark, which i believe would be possible since at that point, the Metra tracks are elevated above grade. I believe there is also a plan to build a Taylor Street bridge over the river as well, which would further bolster the connectivity of the grid in the area. A pedestrian walkway/stairway would connect Roosevelt Rd. with Financial Pl. I would also consider connecting Wells St. with Roosevelt Rd, if it were possible. My perception of the possibility of my idea actually being viable could be all wrong, seeing as how i am not a civil engineer, but something similar to this would definatly be an improvement over the current design.

^ To tell you the truth, I would rather see something like what you've described above than what is being planned currently at RC. Anyhow, lets all move on

Sir Isaac Newton

11-20-2006, 12:57 AM

^ To tell you the truth, I would rather see something like what you've described above than what is being planned currently at RC. Anyhow, lets all move on

Ideally, I would like to see what you described as well. But I personally believe that most of your suggestions are either extremely expensive and the city would not shell that kind of money for it (keep in mind that they are already spending a ton on the Taylor Street extension as is), or they are simply not feasible.

Perhaps they can do something similar to what you described in the enormous parcel of land directly south of Roosevelt....this would be easier to do as well, as the Metra tracks trail off to the east shortly after Roosevelt, and don't bisect this whole area in half. Not to mention, it is not directly across from Dearborn Park, and the development to the east of it is at least a LITTLE bit more open than Dearborn Park.

a chicago bearcat

11-20-2006, 02:27 AM

actually the trailing off to the east makes it impossible for access from the east on the southern parcel

because an access to clark needs room to slope up or down to get over or under the tracks

if there was one street underpass north of roosevelt it would dramatically lower the strain that will be put on other east west streets in the area by those trying to access the new neighborhood

TowerGuy37

11-20-2006, 02:46 AM

I want to know what happens once Southgate, Home Depot and Best Buy all open early next year. Total gridlock on roosevelt! Of course they have done absolutely nothing to improve traffic flow. Traffic does not improve buy putting a person in a yellow neon vest at every corner. This is the most ludacris solution yet. They FUCK traffic up! I say eliminate the 10 or 15 parking meters on roosevellt between canal and the expressway and make roosevelt three lanes on each side. Why would this be so hard to do? Makes the most sense and gives each side an extra lane!

VivaLFuego

11-20-2006, 02:52 AM

Mr Downtown

11-20-2006, 02:59 AM

TowerGuy37

11-20-2006, 04:34 AM

the urban politician

11-20-2006, 04:44 AM

Hey I'm all for pedestrian street activity, the m ore the merrier. I think everyone forgets that the south loop and the kind of retail it is attracting is not the north side of chicago. We do not have storefront after storefront development down here like lincoln park or these days wicker park. Those kinds of neighborhoods attract pedestrian traffic, where as the kind of retail emerging in the south loop is car dependent retail. Unfortanetely its not a walking kind of neighborhood nor will it ever be. The majority of most people do not walk to Home Depot or Best Buy to shop, they drive. This is the same kind of development that happened to Clybourn and look at the gridlock now because of HORRID planning. Theres not too many people walking around over there but a hell of a lot of cars and no added lanes, turning signals or much of anything to keep that flowing. Its too bad Chicago is not more condensed in scale like Manhattan where you want to walk and its inviting to walk. Here its very different

^ That doesn't mean that every effort shouldn't be made to make the south loop or North/Clybourn as urban and pedestrian-friendly as posssible. To me, it's perfectly possible to have retail that accommodates the auto but is urban and pedestrian-oriented at the same time. That's what is happening with some of the newer developments at North/Clybourn, and that should happen in the south loop as well.

I have never viewed all-out car dependence as anything more than a transient state of affairs. When all is said and done and people become forced to use transit again, places like the south loop should be easily poised to make that transition. I view Roosevelt Collection as a development that shouldn't have any problem with that, although its configuration is quite odd.

forumly_chgoman

11-22-2006, 03:58 AM

honte

11-22-2006, 06:37 AM

^ There is a hotel proposed for that site at State / Lake. Check the first page of the Boom Rundown.

forumly_chgoman

11-22-2006, 01:07 PM

thanks honte yeah here it is

though I didn't see a rendering....no doubt because of my slow internet connection

Official name Marriott Hotel
Emporis Building Number 260228

Location
Address *
Bordering street #1 East Lake Street*
Bordering street #2 North State Street*
Postcode *
Neighborhood Loop
District Downtown
City Chicago
State Illinois
Country U.S.A.

Technical Data
Floors (OG) 29

Building in General
Type of construction high-rise building
Main usages
*
Architectural style *
Status approved

trvlr70

11-22-2006, 03:50 PM

^ There is a hotel proposed for that site at State / Lake. Check the first page of the Boom Rundown.
But, but that parcel has been really quiet for a while now. I don't know what's going on at the moment.

Chicago Shawn

11-22-2006, 04:56 PM

I was walking down adams today and as I was passing the parking garage btw franklin and wells....near the Sears tower.....I thought had there ever been a serious proposal for a tower at the parking gagrage sight.....I mean kit wold seem to make sense....hell its right of the quincy L stop and not that nad a walk to oglivie

....any ever hear anything

second question....just north of the L at lake and state there is a parcel that looks to be in demo.....I was unawre of anthing at this site.....is there soemthing going on there?

I believe a 60 story office building was proposed for the sears tower garage site bak in the late '80s. It was killed in the glut and crash of commercial real estate in the late 80's-early 90's due to overbuilding and the start of the first gulf war. As was the Skyneedle, and a couple other large towers for the West Loop.

honte

11-22-2006, 07:18 PM

But, but that parcel has been really quiet for a while now. I don't know what's going on at the moment.

That's fine with me if something else happens there... I thought the design was Grade-A Tacky.

BWChicago

11-27-2006, 07:07 AM

But, but that parcel has been really quiet for a while now. I don't know what's going on at the moment.

A new plan for a DoubleTree hotel called 'Wit' was just announced.
http://arcchicago.blogspot.com/2006/11/whats-wit-gaping-hole-on-state-street.html

spyguy

11-27-2006, 10:39 PM

Friends of Downtown celebrates its 25th anniversary with a look back and a look forward at downtown Chicago.

Wednesday, November 29th
Registration 5:00 pm, Program at 5:30, Reception at 6:45
Offices of Gardner Carton & Douglas
191 North Wacker – 37th Floor

Speaker: Thomas A. Corfman, Senior Reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business

This program is free for Friends of Downtown members. You may join online or at the door.

orulz

11-28-2006, 03:04 PM

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

11-29-2006, 02:32 AM

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

11-29-2006, 02:36 PM

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

11-29-2006, 02:54 PM

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

11-29-2006, 03:37 PM

Steely Dan

11-29-2006, 03:52 PM

honte

11-29-2006, 03:59 PM

^ 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

11-29-2006, 11:40 PM

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

honte

11-30-2006, 12:35 AM

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

forumly_chgoman

11-30-2006, 01:16 AM

^^^^Ughhhhhhh!

the urban politician

11-30-2006, 03:41 AM

^ 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

11-30-2006, 03:48 AM

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

Mr Downtown

11-30-2006, 04:42 AM

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

11-30-2006, 02:57 PM

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

11-30-2006, 03:56 PM

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

12-01-2006, 07:06 AM

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

12-01-2006, 03:17 PM

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

12-01-2006, 03:36 PM

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

12-01-2006, 04:12 PM

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

12-01-2006, 05:02 PM

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

12-01-2006, 10:14 PM

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

12-01-2006, 10:28 PM

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

12-01-2006, 10:40 PM

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

12-01-2006, 10:46 PM

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

12-01-2006, 10:50 PM

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

12-01-2006, 11:01 PM

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

12-02-2006, 01:50 AM

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

12-02-2006, 05:29 PM

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

12-03-2006, 04:39 PM

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

12-03-2006, 05:58 PM

^ 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

12-03-2006, 10:03 PM

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

12-04-2006, 07:01 PM

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

12-04-2006, 10:14 PM

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

12-05-2006, 11:14 AM

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

12-06-2006, 03:31 AM

Yes, just like the tracks to Lowell and Valparaiso.

VivaLFuego

12-06-2006, 04:17 AM

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

denizen467

12-06-2006, 04:55 AM

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

12-06-2006, 04:56 AM

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

12-06-2006, 05:25 AM

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

Busy Bee

12-06-2006, 06:24 AM

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

12-06-2006, 01:12 PM

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

12-06-2006, 02:59 PM

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

12-06-2006, 05:16 PM

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

12-06-2006, 06:38 PM

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

12-06-2006, 07:02 PM

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

12-06-2006, 07:20 PM

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

Busy Bee

12-06-2006, 09:26 PM

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

12-06-2006, 09:38 PM

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."