This is the most dystopian skyline I've ever seen....I like it. Fits with the impeding future of climate change

Illinois Tech joins in DPI, UIUC
 

IIT will be partners with U of I in the Discovery Partners.
Which is great news, I think IIT gets overlooked as a member of Chicago's tech scene.

from IIT:From U of I: U of I System and Illinois Tech announce new research partnership

Chicago's building industry creates 1st-ever loan fund to help minority biz

An interesting article in its own right, but it also includes an updated rendering of the 78 that I hadn't seen yet:

https://cdn-vox--cdn-com.cdn.ampproj..._Midwest.0.jpg

OMG, my jaw just dropped to the floor!! That looks incredible! It looks like a whole new city there, and I can't wait for the Riverwalk to extend from Harrison all the way to Chinatown!!!:notacrook::worship:

On Sunday, I walked along the new riverwalk section from Lake Shore Dr to Lake Street. It was packed. The Riverwalk now has to be one of the best urban locations in the world now! It's really amazing how well it turned out. I like that they have alot more restaurants and cafes, it really make it more lively with cafes, beer gardens ect. My favorite new part is the Northman beer garden. They made it look exactly like a Bavarian beer garden, even with umbrellas from Stiegl brewery in Salzburg. The Baron heartily approves!

When the new sections opened it seemed like they didn't have very many cafes. It's turned into a linear version of a grand European plaza now. I love it!!! It's also very unique, I can't think of anywhere where you can walk at the bottom of a skyscraper canyon, a river with boats going by, and cafes like that.

They included Riverline as well...

Please, please, please come to fruition in my lifetime!:slob:

For comparison- from their website:

http://78chicago.com/assets/img/caro...e-vision-1.jpg

This is such a better megadevelopment than Lincoln Yards. Just far superior in almost every way I can contemplate.
Entirely better conceived......and I hope, executed.

Wow! That looks amazing! I wish there was a way for the city as a whole to focus on developing this parcel to this scale before the other megaprojects receive attention.

Looks like they are getting to the point of refining the tower designs... good. The first draft were obviously placeholders, but you can see a lot more effort being put into the the high rise designs there in the comparison. The low-mid rise structures are all about identical, so I guess we should assume they are being built first? Shot in the dark, I know. I forgot if they had released what stages would go first, been a while since seeing the big pdf for their presentation to the city

For comparison I tried to approximate the current state of that view from the St. Charles Bridge using Google Earth (I love comparing before/after shots):

https://i.imgur.com/B9KXHAB.jpg?1


https://cdn-vox--cdn-com.cdn.ampproj..._Midwest.0.jpg

I think the most likely "1st stage" at this point is the Discovery Partners Institute. Supposedly most of the money is already raised, I wouldn't be surprised to see them selecting an architect by the end of the year with maybe a groundbreaking in late 2020.

By then Wells-Wentworth should be open, so there will be access to the site.

The fact that it will have a subway stop, by itself, makes this a better urban project.

Plus, it's within the boundaries of the official "Central Area" as defined by the City, so it's essentially expanding a sort of greater downtown. I'd love to see the Central Area population grow to 500,000 over the next few decades, and for the total jobs just in the Central Area to approach a million on its own. Currently there are just over a million jobs in the total city, and I think around a quarter-million population in the Central Area and around 650,000 jobs in the Central Area. So those would be aggressive growth goals, but probably possible. One thing that would need to happen to enable both of those, though, is a couple extra transit (read: subway) lines. They keep getting talked about, but no politician seems ready to really fight for them despite the fact that without them downtown will not be able to grow as much as it otherwise will.

I have a question about the Wells-Wentworth connector (https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/dept...Connector.html)

This will be a city street correct? A municipal right of way? And the land parcels on either side are separate? Meaning that if market forces shift, the land could develop lot by lot? Guided by but not forced by a master plan?

Work has started on the street, what state will it be in when construction starts? And is there a rendering or plan for how the street crosses the tracks?

Wells-Wentworth is a public street, yes... Related is dedicating the right-of-way.

Presumably Related will file a plat of subdivision with CDOT that will dedicate the remaining rights-of-way for public use in perpetuity (I have filed two plats myself that included dedication of vacation of public way). This is a separate process from actually building the streets; in the interim, the streets only exist in a legal sense. In theory, Related also has the option of keeping the streets private, but since they are using TIF as a pay-for, I assume the city demanded any infrastructure be turned over to the public.

The entire site is governed by a PD that dictates how the site will develop; if Related wants to sell one or more sub-areas to other developers, they can certainly do so, just like Magellan did at Lakeshore East and CSDC did at Central Station. Any deviation from the approved PD has to be filed as an amendment and approved again by City Council. But the site will not be subdivided into 25x125 lots, so any small-scale development is very very unlikely.

As for what state the road will be in, take a look at the Lake Shore Drive extension thru South Works. Wells-Wentworth itself will be finished, with pavement, curbs, sidewalks, and bike lanes. All the intersections with future streets will be built as well, with temporary barricades up to prevent people turning.

Apparently what's going in first under or alongside Wells-Wentworth is a modern "utilidor," having all the utilities (except gas) in the same large duct so the pavement doesn't have to be cut open for future repair and connections. However, I'm told the street itself won't be open to traffic until 2021.

Well, the south end of the roadway under the SCAL is still being negotiated with the railroads, then the Rock Island Line has to be moved, and then a location for the Red Line station has to actually be agreed to by CTA.

Does anyone know how Related is funding this project beyond the TIF subsidies? I'm assuming a lot of loans but I also wonder if they're raising any equity from outside sources.

Related is just the managing partner. The shady but deep-pocketed General Mediterranean actually owns the land and will reap most of the profit. They have plenty of money to launder invest.

Looks like work is starting on the Wells-Wentworth connector.
https://chi.streetsblog.org/2019/09/...wn-and-the-78/

Unfortunate it's starting out as a 4 lane road... really no reason for that.

I agree. Though this configuration makes it more easily possible to add dedicated bus lanes in the future...