[QUOTE=Steely Dan;2799388]uhhhh, yeah, i don't disagree with any of that,. i would love it if every major chicagoland corporation moved their operations downtown as well. what i was saying is that i'm kinda glad chicagoland never built a clayton for itself - an urban major commercial office district to rival the main downtown office district. in chicagoland, all the major susburban office districts are horrendously sprawly, ugly, unimaginative and downright depressing. this helps give downtown chicago an advantage in that it can offer businesses a real environment, a place that actually matters, which is something they ain't gonna find in any of suburban chicago's major office markets. [QUOTE]
Actually I would say that downtown Evanston is the only suburban office that is urban in nature, but it still isnt anywhere near big enough to compete with downtown Chicago. Downtown Evanston is the only place in Chicagoland besides downtown Chicago where you have office towers and residential highrises within easy walking distance and this highrise would only make it more so. All suburban office districts should follow the Evantson model in an ideal world but many are not built in historic cores like Evanston but rather proximity to expressways.
Speaking of the the Oakbrook Terrace Tower:
From this ariel and from what I have seen and heard about that area it is surrounded by parking lots and is in a very auto-centric environment. So its a nice tall building but its still nothing but a vertical office park.