CHICAGO | Marquee at Block 37 | 400 FT | 38 FLOORS

[wierdaaron]

Wouldn't unit floor plans have been worked out already at this point? I wonder why these major downtown rental developments don't start marketing the apartments (renders, floor plans, rough prices) now while the downtown renter market is just starting to warm up? Let people living outside downtown start thinking about their options so they can have time to make their decision.

Without any kind of materials like that there's no way of knowing what kind of price range and market they're going for. 111 W Wacker was the first new rental building in the Loop in a long time, and they're pretty high-end. Will Block 37 and 200 N Mich aim for the same market? Or be more reduced rate to try to aim for the young-ish tech/skilled workers who're the most willing to try downtown living but don't earn enough to pay ultra-luxe rents?

I hope they're reasonably competitive, with 1 bedrooms close to $2k/m, so millennial types can swarm in and germinate some interesting local business and maybe even some culture in the area.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

Wouldn't unit floor plans have been worked out already at this point? I wonder why these major downtown rental developments don't start marketing the apartments (renders, floor plans, rough prices) now while the downtown renter market is just starting to warm up? Let people living outside downtown start thinking about their options so they can have time to make their decision.

Without any kind of materials like that there's no way of knowing what kind of price range and market they're going for. 111 W Wacker was the first new rental building in the Loop in a long time, and they're pretty high-end. Will Block 37 and 200 N Mich aim for the same market? Or be more reduced rate to try to aim for the young-ish tech/skilled workers who're the most willing to try downtown living but don't earn enough to pay ultra-luxe rents?

I hope they're reasonably competitive, with 1 bedrooms close to $2k/m, so millennial types can swarm in and germinate some interesting local business and maybe even some culture in the area.

^ HA! Yeah right.

I doubt 1 bedrooms will run for $2k for spanking new construction. Remember, at 500 N LSD (A far less desirable location) studios are renting for over $2300

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

In other Block 37 news, it would appear that the work they are doing on the 22 W Washington office building will not include finally completing CBS 2's video screen display. If I'm correct, that is indeed unfortunate. I believe the city should have tightened the screws on both CBS and the tower's owner to do the right thing and finish the job.

^ While that's too bad, I think this is still better than nothing. It looked unfinished up until this point, and with a glass cover at least it's more presentable, while still giving the structural expressionists the hard-on that they need

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

111 W Wacker was the first new rental building in the Loop in a long time

73 E Lake, 215 W Washington, 200 W Lake take issue with that.....

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I'm actually now devastated that they are not leaving that structure exposed. It's such a unique situation. You can see how the steel will relocate the forces onto the existing columns so the building can be reoriented from the two tower scheme to the one tower scheme. Any piece of steel that large should just never be covered up. This should be left exposed like 215 W Washington. This is the most exciting steelwork we've seen since they put up that tower. Looking forward to the acrobatics at 150 N Riverside and, to a lesser extent, River Point.

Really agree that it would have been awesome to have some real structural expressionism going here. An even better scenario would be for Smithfield to have done the same with Joffrey Tower (above and beyond anything they ended up showing there), and then you could have had a real nice little concentration of expressed structure in dramatic steel to concrete vertical transfer for both towers and the fantastic heavy steel truss work at both on full display.......

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ HA! Yeah right.

I doubt 1 bedrooms will run for $2k for spanking new construction. Remember, at 500 N LSD (A far less desirable location) studios are renting for over $2300

who the hell rents these things?

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by Ryanrule

who the hell rents these things?

Hard-working swarthy dudes with pressed slacks, BMWs and bluetooths.

[wierdaaron]

The wealthy and wannabe-wealthy will always be willing to pay top dollar for high-end downtown places just for the prestige of it, but it seems like it would be smarter to try to grab onto the fast-growing market of *sigh* millennials who're the most amenable to reurbanizing. You really wouldn't have to lower the price point too much to be highly attractive to them.

When I first moved to the South Loop I was paying way more than I should have been given my income at the time, because I wanted a high unit in a newer development and as minimal a commute as possible, and I think that's common among people of my age bracket. If I could move to Block 37 or 200 N Mich for not much more money, I'd definitely do it.

[Notyrview]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Hard-working swarthy dudes with pressed slacks, BMWs and bluetooths.

I would replace hard working with fast talking, swarthy with Caucasian, and sum it all up as douchebags.

[Ryanrule]

i am a millennial, and not too many of us are making 150K+ to be able to afford these things, nor would we pay so much for something so cookie-cutter.

[SamInTheLoop]

^^ The renderings and videos that some of these developers put together certainly do make it seem like the expect their buildings to be quite the 'United Nations' of downtown luxury living, that's for sure!


^ So, who is moving, en masse, into all these new buildings? It's not just millennials, for sure, but clearly they need to be representing a pretty signficant percentage of the newly built and occupied units.......

[wierdaaron]

All of the reports I've seen say that the people who're reurbanizing, specifically to downtown areas, are millennials and empty-nesters.

Millennials tend to gravitate toward the idea of urban centers, mass transit, eat-local, etc. They have no need for grass lawns, and would love more than anything to not need a car. They've proved they're willing to spend up to 50% of their income on rent, as long as they feel like they're getting a new urbanism value out of it. If they're in a high-tech job, they may make between 50-100k before age 30 and aren't saving much money because 2008 made them distrust banking and finance because of how insane and depressed it seemed to make their parents. It's looking like once they start having kids they're going to flee for the 'burbs, but there isn't enough data yet on that.

Empty-nesters don't have young children anymore so they don't need lawns or to be in a good school district. They have enough income or savings to enjoy life, and they've grown disillusioned with suburban life and want to feel some of the vibrant energy of living in a tall building in a big city. They're still fairly responsible, though, so they may rent for a while but will try to buy as soon as they can, because that's what grownups do.

If you're slinging high-end luxury like 111 W Wacker, you're probably going to catch a lot of empty nesters. I think there's a bigger and more eager market to tap if you can try to target those millennials, though, who'll spend half their paycheck on rent and feel good about doing so. They're willing to (in some people's view) overpay for rent, but they still can't overpay for what they can't afford. You gotta hit that rent sweet spot, or you'll price yourself out of the market of the people who are most willing to take the leap of living in an area from which historically people have fled.

[Skyguy_7]

^Last week, I visited a friend at 111 W Wacker who's 30, married with no kids. I had to hang in the lobby for a while that weeknight and saw nothing but early-30-somethings walking in and out with pets and pizzas. Maybe 1 or two single cougars. This specific building is contemporary, luxury living that I don't picture empty nesters being very interested in.

[SamInTheLoop]

^^ It was essentially a rhetorical question I was asking Ryan.

A City Observatory Report on related topics that is 'making the rounds' at present:

http://cityobservatory.org/wp-conten...port-Final.pdf

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^Last week, I visited a friend at 111 W Wacker who's 30, married with no kids. I had to hang in the lobby for a while that weeknight and saw nothing but early-30-somethings walking in and out with pets and pizzas. Maybe 1 or two single cougars. This specific building is contemporary, luxury living that I don't picture empty nesters being very interested in.

Why? Because you think the design is too contemporary for them? Or perhaps because of the simple fact that it is rental? (maybe you think simply the much-greater propensity to own for empty nesters is what would shy them away from spending $3,000+ per month on rent??)......

At any rate, probably drifting too off-topic for this specific thread....

[Ryanrule]

i wonder if they are paying for the rent themselves, or if they are on the parental plan

[wierdaaron]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

^^ It was essentially a rhetorical question I was asking Ryan.

A City Observatory Report on related topics that is 'making the rounds' at present:

http://cityobservatory.org/wp-conten...port-Final.pdf

Thanks, this is great! I'm going to try to power through this thing, but just the summary is exactly my cup of tea.

[Kngkyle]

Been awhile since there's been an update. Today 12/01/14:

[SamInTheLoop]

^ Nice update - thanks! I believe we have some core formwork visible through the trusswork......

[ardecila]

I love the sidewalk shed they've set up along Randolph. It's amazing they are constructing such a massive building with so little room for staging (one lane of Randolph, basically). This jobsite will need to run like a VERY well-oiled machine...