CHICAGO | 108 North State (Block 37)

[jjk1103]

...can someone post a sketch as to what the superstation was supposed to look like ? ...when the roughed out station is complete, will the CTA at least be able to use it to ferry equipment between the Blue and Red lines ?

[ardecila]

^^ Yes, assuming they lay tracks. That's more expensive than it sounds, but I expect CTA will lay a single track connecting the Red/Blue Lines for equipment moves.

One interesting thing about the Block 37 tunnel is that, if the junction on the Blue Line at Lake/Canal is extended a few blocks west and through a subway portal, the Green Line could be re-routed to the subways from the Loop (Lake Street elevated -> Blue Line subway -> Red Line subway -> South Main Line).

Of course, this would require the closure of Clinton station... but I'm just musing.

[harryc]

June 10
1

June 16
in context
2

3

June 17
4

June 19
5

6

7

8

Working in the basement
9

10

[Taft]

Originally Posted by harryc

June 10
...
6
...

This portion of the building has a lot of promise, IMO. The smooth, angled metal patches (stainless steel?) create a unique pattern which should be interesting from a variety of angles. I'm not sure I see it as cohesive with the rest of the facade, but I'm still excited to see the final product.

Great shots, Harry.

Taft

[spyguy]

Interior

[Mr Roboto]

^I wonder if its really going to look that bright and cheezy. Well, if anything i just hope it brings even more life to state street. And with a movie theatre, that would certainly help.

[aaron38]

I don't follow Block 37 very much, and I didn't see anything with a quick skim of the thread. What's the schedule for finishing this off?

[NYC2ATX]

Originally Posted by spyguy

Chicagoans really do love their urban malls. (Chicago Place, Water Tower, Westfield Northbridge, Merchandise Mart, etc.) Not a big fan of these (excluding MM). Whenever I went to Chicago Place (for Taco Bell ) The entire place was empty, including the storefronts. Hopefully this mall will be a success.

[honte]

Originally Posted by StatenIslander237

Chicagoans really do love their urban malls.

Do we? I think the developers and tenants like them. I don't know anyone personally who would prefer to shop in these places though.

[ardecila]

Merchandise Mart isn't a mall exactly... the products sold there definitely do not have mass appeal, and many of the vendors there are exclusive outposts of the companies they represent. In other words, the Mart is often the only place to get many high-end building materials, appliances, textiles, etc, and people who want those products HAVE to go to the Mart. But if you want, for example, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Kate Spade, Victoria's Secret, or GameStop - stores that appeal to the masses - you definitely won't be going there. Heck, many of the "stores" in the Mart have nothing in stock and don't sell to the public.

Isn't Chicago Place being redeveloped as a hotel or something? It was never very successful, but Water Tower Place has fared better, and North Bridge seems to be doing well, although it's really too recent to judge how it will do in the long term. I think Chicago Place always tried to cater to a more middle-class market, which doesn't really jive with the Mag Mile's concept of "destination shopping" - favoring high-end stores you can't find in Woodfield, Oakbrook, or Orland Square. Chicago Place failed because people could go to any of those suburban malls for the same stuff, so why go to Michigan Avenue?

[emathias]

Originally Posted by honte

Do we? I think the developers and tenants like them. I don't know anyone personally who would prefer to shop in these places though.

Yeah, every time I go into 900 N or Watertower or north bridge, I can't help but wonder how different Streeterville and River North (not to mention th estretch of Michigan between the River and randolph) might be if all that retail was street-level instead of in a bunch of malls. I'd much rather have had State Street and St. Clair benefit from a lot of the stores in the Malls, or east-west streets like Ohio and Ontario. There are dozens of ways I'd have rather seen that retail distributed than in vertical malls

[ardecila]

Vertical malls are hardly a phenomenon of Chicago developers, BTW - Minneapolis has 2, I believe. Cleveland may have one, and New York has several. I'm sure they exist in other cities as well (Philly, Boston, DC).

[Norsider]

Why vertical malls in dowtown Chicago, you ask???

One word: WINTER

[jjk1103]

Originally Posted by Norsider

Why vertical malls in dowtown Chicago, you ask???

One word: WINTER

.....you are not allowed to speak the "W" word until October

[NYC2ATX]

Originally Posted by ardecila

...and New York has several.

I only know of two in all of Manhattan. The Manhattan Mall (which is somewhat dingy and cavernous, and the butt of many jokes; it's proximity to Herald Square and Macy's doesn't help), and the Shops at Time Warner Center (built in 2004, very new and very open; also VERY high-end). You could mention Trump Tower or the WFC shops, etc., etc. ...but they are not really the same set-up of such an establishment.

That was why I made my previous comment, because I am used to almost exclusively street-level storefronts here in New York.

[ardecila]

Yeah, those were the two that I was thinking of. The Shops at Columbus Circle, in fact, is architecturally similar to The Shops at North Bridge here in Chicago - both have 4-story, curving arcades, they opened at the same time, and both feature high-end retailers (although Columbus Circle more so). The architects were not the same, however.

Also... isn't there a mall at the base of One Beacon Court?

[chex]

that aluminium part looks very cool!

[colemonkee]

Originally Posted by harryc

8

Very Gehry'esque. Someone should check the pedestrian bridge in Millennium Park for missing panels...

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah, those were the two that I was thinking of. The Shops at Columbus Circle, in fact, is architecturally similar to The Shops at North Bridge here in Chicago - both have 4-story, curving arcades, they opened at the same time, and both feature high-end retailers (although Columbus Circle more so). The architects were not the same, however.
...

I don't think they're similar at all in feel. The Columbus Circle mall feels light-years more open - likely because you get a spectacular view east along 59th/Central Park South and into the Park through huge windows from the central mall area. You don't get anything like that at North Bridge.

[ardecila]

Obviously not. Who'd want to look out, in the middle of the shopping arcade, onto the ugly canyon that is Grand Avenue?