[SamInTheLoop]

Given that the base (retail component) facade is what it is - CIM Group apparently has no plans to change it (has anyone heard differently?), I think the tower is pretty good - I really do think SCB did a decent job here of working with the found condition that is by all accounts not being changed in the form of the retail base facade. My assessment assumes that what we are seeing in the tower's north facade is all glass, ie no additional metal cheese grater sections.....to me this looks to be the case. I like the fairly subtle weave affect from (what I hope are) slight shifts in the tower floor plates.........

The 'living above a mall' comment is an odd one. Obviously the tower is programmatically completely separate from the actual interial retail element of the project. There's really no difference here from living in any other high-rise in a very active mixed-use area in Chicago. You go down to the residential lobby on Randolph, you step outside and there's loads of street front retail, food, culture, etc etc in all directions, including all of the 1st floor shops in Block 37 itself that have individual street entrances. If for some reason a resident has an extreme distaste for malls - even vertical urban ones, which some folks do, fair enough - he/she needn't ever step foot inside the interior common areas of the retail portion of the block - in fact they could virtully forget it even exists for all practical purposes.........however, in reality, I think people who would choose to do that would be a smallish minority, as once a majority of the new entertainment, food, and retail that CIM Group is bringing in opens - hopefully within the next year, but at very latest by the time the residential tower is completed - there will be a lot of compelling draws on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors that most residents likely would want to take advantage of......